Are you suffering from housing stress?

Most of Australia is officially in "housing stress", with more than a third of family income required to service the average home loan.
The Real Estate Institute of Australia, which compiled the figures, said affordability was consequently now at its lowest point in 16 years, with families in NSW, Queensland and Tasmania hardest hit.
Home owners, on average, now need to spend more than 30 per cent of their income on mortgage repayments, the level at which borrowers are said to be in housing stress.
"First-home buyers are being locked into the rental market due to deteriorating home-loan affordability," REIA president Graham Joyce said yesterday.
"With today's low vacancy rates, rents are going to increase significantly, making it even more difficult for renters to become buyers."
Low housing affordability has been driven by the last property boom and rising interest rates.
Negative gearing laws on investment properties have also contributed to the blowout in housing affordability, as they encourage people to buy multiple properties, forcing up prices at the lower end of the market.
In one reprieve for stretched home owners, the Reserve Bank of Australia left official interest rates unchanged at 6.25 per cent yesterday after raising rates three times this year.
But the September quarter affordability results reflected only two of those rises and affordability was expected to further deteriorate in the December quarter, the Housing Industry Association said.
Any worsening affordability is expected to be halted next year.
Weak gross domestic product figures for the September quarter released yesterday - 0.3 per cent in the period - suggest there will be little house price growth next year.
"Dwelling investment barely grew in the September quarter, reinforcing the point that talk of a housing recovery emerging was premature," said HIA chief economist Harley Dale.
The REIA said home-loan affordability had deteriorated by 4.8 per cent over the year, with 33.8 per cent of income required to service the average national mortgage.
NSW home owners were most stretched - spending 36.4 per cent of income on home loan repayments - followed by Queensland and Tasmania at 34.9 per cent and 33.3 per cent respectively.
Western Australia recorded the biggest decline in affordability over the year on the back of booming house prices in that state, with 32.1 per cent of income required to service the average family income, up 16.6 per cent.
The Northern Territory was most affordable with 20.5 per cent of household income required for loan payments.

Source: Newscorp