EDITORIAL: New figures show contradiction between housing truths and Albanese Government claims

One wonders if the Albanese Government is aware of the expression to fiddle while Rome burns?

If not, its members should acquaint themselves with it and reflect on the direction the Government has taken over housing.

Its origin is the story that the emperor Nero played his fiddle during the great fire in Rome in 64 AD, rather than taking steps to control the blaze.

Let’s consider Housing Minister Clare O’Neil’s performance on Channel Seven’s Sunrise on Wednesday.

“We have as a Government a pretty unapologetic focus in getting more Australians into home ownership. And the data that’s been released since the Budget actually shows us that we are having real success on that,” Ms O’Neil said.

Now let’s consider new figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics on housing in the September quarter 2026 that were released after Ms O’Neil’s comments.

The total number of new loan commitments for dwellings fell 15 per cent.

The number of new owner-occupier loan commitments fell 5.3 per cent.

The number of new investor loan commitments fell 30.6 per cent.

And what about the sector which has been the focus of the Albanese Government’s “intergenerational equity” rhetoric. You know, young first-homebuyers.

It was in their name that the Albanese Government’s Budget ended negative gearing from July next year for established homes exchanged after May 12, and replaced the 50 per cent capital gains tax discount with indexation and a minimum 30 per cent tax.

So how was it going for those first-homebuyers in the September quarter?

The number of new owner-occupier first-homebuyer loan commitments fell 8.6 per cent.

This followed a 4.4 per cent fall in the June quarter.

The ABS said loan commitments for dwellings included loans for the purpose of building new dwellings, buying new dwellings and buying existing dwellings.

The fall in new home loan numbers was revealed just hours after the Commonwealth Bank, Australia’s biggest home lender, revealed in a trading update that home loan application volumes had dived by 16 per cent during the September quarter.

This occurred as home loan arrears, of borrowers being 90 days or more behind on their repayments, soared to a seven-year high of 0.8 per cent.

The drop in new mortgages followed the Reserve Bank of Australia’s February, March, May and September rate hikes that took the RBA cash rate to a then 15-year high of 4.6 per cent.

It is sobering to consider that the data pre-dated this month’s hike that took the cash rate to an 18-year high of 4.85 per cent.

So where does this leave us?

The Albanese Government insists it is not its excessive spending that is to blame for the RBA’s move to tackle inflation by raising rates.

Home values have slumped. This has eroded the worth of the biggest investment families are ever likely to make.

First-homebuyers are sitting on their hands amid the interest rate spikes and fears that what they buy may fall in value.

It is hard to see any winners.

But Rome’s housing is burning.

Responsibility for this editorial comment is taken by Editor-in-Chief Christopher Dore