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South Australia’s Housing Industry Association (HIA) has warned that the state's housing affordability has officially reached "crisis levels".
As part of the association’s election ‘wish list’, the SA HIA has called for an urgent reform of the state's housing policies.
The list’s main items include the abolition of land tax on properties below the median value, providing they are offered for rent within the private market, and stamp duty exemptions for first-home buyers on properties up to the median new house price.
According to a report in The Advertiser, figures presented in the policy show that the median house price has risen 219 per cent in the past 10 years from $122,300 in 2000 to $390,125 in 2009.
However, the average adult wage has only increased 45 per cent over the same period.
HIA's regional director Robert Harding said if housing affordability issues were not addressed now, about 30,000 people may be locked out of the housing market come 2030.
"Everyone talks about the housing crisis and the effect that it has on those who are locked out of residential housing, but basically no political party so far has been prepared to tackle the problem head on," he said.
"If these issues aren't addressed we will have a significant proportion of the population who will never have an opportunity to own their own home."
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