Ruth Webber (WA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

My question is to Senator Minchin, the Minister representing the Treasurer. Does the minister recall telling the Senate in November 2005 that:

Certainly, there is still reasonably healthy growth in the number of first home owners, which remains above the long run average for the seventh consecutive month …

Is the minister aware that ABS figures actually show that the proportion of first homebuyers in the market has now been below the long-run average for more than four years? Is the minister further aware that last week’s Housing finance report showed that the proportion of first homebuyers in the market fell from 19.1 per cent to 16.7 per cent in the three months following the interest rate rise in May—the sharpest fall over a three-month period for more than four years? Does the minister expect the proportion of first homebuyers to fall even further following the latest interest rate hike in August?