WA's affordability gap between homeowners and renters is growing

A growing divide between homeowners and renters has emerged in Western Australia, with a new report revealing the disparity in housing affordability has widened since COVID-19.

The recent Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre’s Housing Affordability in WA: A tale of two tenures report shows while property owners are more comfortable than they have been in some years, private renters, particularly single parents, are struggling to make ends meet.

The report draws on research from the fourth BCEC Housing Affordability Survey of 4000 households across Western Australia, New South Wales and Queensland.

The perception of housing affordability improved with 53% of WA respondents saying they considered their housing affordable, compared to 39% in 2015. For homeowners, this was partly driven by lower mortgage interest rates.