New data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics highlight the impact of the nation's housing affordability crisis. Some $A22bn worth of housing loans were approved in August 2007, a fall of 0.3 per cent. Meanwhile, people buying their first home accounted for just 17.1 per cent of approvals, down from 17.4 per cent in July. Martin Arnold of CommSec says the housing market has been impacted by the increase in interest rates in August, while people who live in rental properties are expecting rent increases.
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