For many people, the idea of buying a home is becoming further and further out of reach. House prices across Australia have ballooned in recent years - particularly since COVID - and Tasmania is no exception.
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What's becoming clearer as time goes by is the trend of more people leaving bigger cities to embrace a regional lifestyle is no longer a pipe dream - it's a reality.
Data from the Real Estate Institute of Tasmania's March quarter report shows the local market has continued its strongest activity growth since 2002.
Sales numbers are up 14.4 per cent compared to last year and 12.9 per cent on 2019.
The same report also showed Launceston was experiencing its lowest vacancy rate (1.3 per cent) in rental accommodations, while median house prices increased in all regions, with Launceston up 11.4 per cent to $420,000 and the North-West up 28.5 per cent to $379,000.
What's clear, according to REIT, is the increase in property prices as well as private rentals clearly reflects a "critical in-balance" between buyers, renter and the supply of housing.
So where does this leave us?
Last month, spotlight on the federal government's new Family Home Guarantee revealed the scheme would be unlikely to help those struggling to enter the market - if the existing cap of $300,000 applied under the First Home Loan Deposit Scheme for regional Tasmania remained.
A quick search on realestate.com.au at the time showed only a handful of homes listed for sale in Launceston with three or more bedrooms - the type of home one would imagine a single parent with multiple children would require.
One of those, a South Launceston property advertised for $229,000 with the title "renovate or detonate", was used a prime example from Labor Housing and Homelessness spokesman Jason Clare as to just how out of touch the government's scheme really was.
Bass Liberal MHA Bridget Archer was quick to hit back at Mr Clare's claims as "cynical politicking". As a former sole parent, Ms Archer made it clear she would not be lectured about the challenges facing single parent families in her region.
The government always maintained the scheme was subject to review and legislation. Now, two weeks on, Tasmanians have confirmation that the cap for regional cities like Launceston will be increased to $400,000.
Whether this will be enough to ensure the scheme is a success - only time will tell. But in an instance where the government has listened, and acted, to bring a policy more in-line with the reality facing many families - they deserve some credit.
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