Housing crisis could take a generation to fix

0:00Young House hunters have been dealt a crushing new blow. The Albanese government admitting it could take a generation to fix the housing crisis. An economist warned, there'll be no relief until Labour delivers on its housing targets. 30-year-old Matthew N.G. lives with his parents as he desperately tries to buy a home, depressed by this prediction about the housing supply crisis. This is a challenge that is likely to take the better part of a generation to resolve. If I have to wait another generation by time I'm 60, I don't even have words. Yeah, shocking. Committing a further $145 million to crisis accommodation today, the housing minister did not challenge the gloomy prediction. Do you think it will take that long? Look, I'm not going to put an exact number of years on it.

1:01What I can be really clear about is that it took more than one generation to build this problem. Economists blame the supply crisis on interest rates, tax changes, huge demand and the government's tardiness. They agreed with the states to build something like 1.2 million homes over five years. We're now more than two years into that agreement and yet we're running way below target. Builders hammered by costs and government regulations. It's so bad, many now renovate old homes rather than building new ones. And then their kids can stay at home for a bit longer instead of forking out all that money to buy their house. Local real estate agents say the prediction by the chief economist of NAB only makes a bad situation worse, eroding the confidence of prospective buyers like Matthew Ng. If I have to find something affordable, I'll have to move further and further away, which is not something I'm looking to do.

2:02Nick McCallum, 7 News.