Key workers priced out of capital cities

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Emergency workers and teachers are unable to afford homes in seven out of eight Australian capital cities according to a new report.

Bankwest's second annual Key Workers Housing Affordability survey reveals that despite slight improvements in housing affordability in the past year, both segments of the population face an uphill battle in pursuing their property dreams.

"Our research shows that key workers are still doing it tough across Australia with most being locked out of the property market in the city they serve," said Bankwest Retail Chief Executive Ian Corfield.

"These are the essential workers Australians rely on everyday to provide important services and most continue to be priced out of the housing in the communities in which they serve."

Key workers include nurses, teachers, police officers, fire-fighters and ambulance officers. Of Australia's 480,000 key workers, 244,000 are teachers, 172,000 are nurses, 44,000 are police officers, 11,000 are fire and emergency employees and 9,000 are ambulance officers.

Bankwest released its first Key Workers Housing Affordability report in June last year, highlighting how house prices were rising faster than key worker earnings. Despite house prices in 2009 falling 2% nationally, median house prices remain more than five times a key workers annual earnings.

All capital cities, apart from Darwin, experienced modest improvements in affordability for key workers during the past year - affordability improved the most in Perth with the median house price to earnings ratio for key workers dropping 1.2 years to 6.3 years.

Seven capital city local government areas (LGAs) moved from being unaffordable for all key workers in 2008 to being affordable for some - Clarence City and Kingborough in Hobart, Blacktown and the Blue Mountains in Sydney and surrounds, Logan in Brisbane, Yarra Ranges in Melbourne and Gosnells in Perth.

Average salaries used in the Report were $51,553 for nurses, $55,029 for teachers, $73,237 for police officers, $50,471 for fire-fighters and $63,414 for ambulance officers.

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