Aussie budget to tackle housing affordability

Risk ahead: A cyclist rides past apartment buildings in the suburb of Rhodes in Sydney. Rocketing home prices, particularly in Sydney and Melbourne, have heightened concern among regulators about the risk of a housing bubble. — Bloomberg

SYDNEY: Australian Treasurer Scott Morrison signalled next month’s budget will include measures to address housing affordability, amid mounting concern soaring home prices are locking young people out of the property market.

The government is considering steps to boost the supply of homes and ways to lure institutional money into social and affordable housing, Morrison said in a speech to the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute in Melbourne. “Dealing with housing affordability must involve a scalpel, not a chainsaw,” Morrison said.