Social Media Activism Propose House Strike

First homebuyers have been largely ignored in the last few years. In spite of a federal election, the price of housing has not been a major issue for the parties and it seems this segment of the market has not been a political problem for the parties. However, recently an online organisation has raised house prices as a subject for social media activism and from reports, it seems that members of GetUp Australia have voted this as the issue that they would most want to be addressed by the organisation.

The campaign would encourage people not to buy a house, effectively promoting a strike or embargo on purchasing a home in order to let the price of housing drop. The government can pre-empt this by bringing back a more substantial first home buyer grant. Without this organisation's activism, there already seems to be a housing strike in the greater Australian real estate market, with many buyers, including this author, holding out from buying a home. 

What will happen next? Will the government act? If you join in on this campaign, let us know in the comments below as well.

Mortgage Exit Fees Now Banned

Today, the Federal government finalised plans to ban mortgage exit fees to take effect from July 1 this year.

The regulation, which did not need the approval of Parliament, is intended to make it easier for home buyers to switch to another bank without the fear of being slugged up to $7,000 in exit fees. Already, ANZ and NAB have dropped exit fees even before the regulation has passed. NAB is also offering to pay people out of their existing exit fees when switching over from CBA and Westpac. A bank has apparently told the Treasury that they have lost significant business since removing exit fees. 

Least Affordable Districts in WA

A housing affordability index has been released by Bankwest showing the number of years an average person would take to pay off a house in each local council in Perth. Here are a few of the list ranked from least affordable to most affordable. Note that these are not the suburbs but the council that they belong to and this includes all local government districts in WA (not just Perth).

Affordability in WA local government areas (anything under 5 is rated affordable)

Peppermint Grove 49.9

Cottesloe 24.5

Claremont 18.8

Mosman Park 17.9

Subiaco 15.5

East Fremantle 14.7

Vincent 10.7

Perth City 10.5

Roebourne 9.6

Port Hedland 9.5

Melville 9.4

Fremantle 9.3

Stirling 8.6

East Pilbara 8.2

Victoria Park 8.2

Broome 7.6

Joondalup 7.1

Bayswater 6.8

Gingin 6.8

Augusta-Margaret River 6.6

Canning 6.6

Chittering 6.6

Busselton 6.4

Cockburn 6.2

Cambridge 16.1

Exmouth 6.1

Belmont 6

Bassendean 6

Wyndham 6

Kalamunda 5.7

Mundaring 5.7

Capel 5.5

Wanneroo 5.5

Denmark 5.4

Irwin 5.4

Serpentine-Jarrahdale 5.4

Dandaragan 5.2

Swan 5.2

Ashburton 5.1

Murray 5

Greenough 5

Albany 4.9

Gosnells 4.9

Harvey 4.8

Mandurah 4.8

Northampton 4.8

Derby 4.7

Rockingham 4.7

Boddington 4.6

Geraldton 4.6

Coorow 4.5

Dardanup 4.5

Esperance 4.4

Armadale 4.2

Bunbury 4.2

Toodyay 4.2

Waroona 4.1

Donnybrook-Balingup 4

Kalgoorlie-Boulder 3.9

Carnarvon 3.8

York 3.8

Bridgetown 3.7

Kwinana 3.7

Jerramungup 3.5

Manjimup 3.3

Collie 3.2

Northam 3.2

Narrogin 3.1

Brookton 2.9

Plantagenet 2.9

Beverley 2.7

Kojonup 2.6

Boyup Brook 2.5

Katanning 2.5

Wagin 2.5

Williams 2.5

Goomalling 2.3

Merredin 2.3

Quairading 2.3

Nedlands 22.2

Pingelly 2.2

Wongan-Ballidu 2.2

Moora 2.1

Mingenew 2

Corrigin 2

Coolgardie 1.9

Kellerberrin 1.9

South Perth 11.9

Victoria Plains 1.9

Bruce Rock 1.7

Dalwallinu 1.7

Kulin 1.7

Morawa 1.7

Gnowangerup 1.6

Lake Grace 1.6

Wyalkatchem 1.6

Yilgarn 1.6

Three Springs 1.5

Leonora 1.4

Narembeen 1.3

Dundas 1.2

Mount Magnet 0.9