Implications of Labour Market Change for First Time Homebuyers

This paper seeks to establish how access to home ownership has been or is being affected by recent changes in the Australian labour market. This is an important research question given the evidence suggesting that the traditionally high proportion of homebuyers in Australia n as distinct from outright owners within the population has fallen by about ten percent over the last decade (Yates 1997, 1999). The research is based on a national survey of first time homebuyers in South Australia, New South Wales and Western Australia and this paper reports on the preliminary findings.