Confidence in housing market hits a new low

Confidence in the housing market is now at its lowest level on record.

The number of Australians who believe property investment is the safest place to put their money has fallen to a 40 year low of 11.6 per cent. 

The Age newspaper reports the figure, which comes from a consumer confidence survey that’s been running since the 1970s, has fallen from 28 per cent in 2015.

The news comes as the Valuer General records Melbourne’s first drop in median house prices since 2012.

The latest Bureau of Statistics numbers also reveal investors now account for half of all money borrowed for housing.

La Trobe Financial’s chief investment officer Chris Andrews said surveys on confidence measures were always volatile.

‘It’s not surprising people are starting to emphasise repaying the debt they’ve taken on rather than looking at taking on new housing,’ he told 3AW Breakfast.

‘And that’s what the survey figures are pointing to.’

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