Cost of living and rental crisis drive young voters at NSW election

"At this rate I'll be able to afford a shoebox," the 25-year-old said.

Ms Fuller, from Dubbo in the NSW central west, admits she doesn't know who the state's political leaders are.

But like many young Australians the cost of living is a high priority for her ahead of the March 25 election.

Ms Fuller said she will be voting for the party which can help her achieve her dream.

Generation Z and Millennials make up 39 per cent of NSW voters and a 2023 Youth Action state survey of people aged 16 to 24 found living costs were front of mind.

Ms Fuller said she didn't know anything about Premier Dominic Perrottet and hadn't heard of Labor leader Chris Minns.

"I didn't know either if I'm being honest but I will definitely be paying more attention now," Ms Fuller said.

"I want to vote on what will help others be able to obtain a home and not have to fork out a million dollars for a simple home," she said.

Even with savings Ms Fuller said all the houses on the market are outside her budget.

"Every house I look at that I think would be in my price range is just a ridiculous price. Some houses are older and are $700,000 plus," she said.

University of Technology Sydney (UTS) Professor Alan Morris said young people should be more "politically literate and aware of the issues" affecting their future.

"These young people have been completely shut off from the housing market.

"They are probably feeling very frustrated, angry and powerless in this situation - it's a complete crisis," Professor Morris, from the Institute for Public Policy and Governance, said.

"A lot of people have had to return to their parental home or have to share or live far away or are living in inadequate situations," he said.

Professor Morris said housing affordability would help determine the outcome of the election, mirroring 2022 federal election results showing a high proportion of renters voted for Labor.

"I think it [housing affordability] could have an impact," he said.

"Young people are feeling very insecure. I think it's very easy to conclude they are really concerned about the future," he said.

The NSW Coalition wants to give first home buyers purchasing a property under $1.5 million the choice to either pay stamp duty upfront or an annual property tax.

Opposition Leader Chris Minns has a $772 million plan to abolish stamp duty for homes under $800,000 and offer a reduced rate to properties worth up to $1 million.

According to CoreLogic, the median value for homes across NSW is $684,246, a 10.4 per cent increase since January 2020.

In the central west the median value of a dwelling is $566,617 compared to $312,456 pre-COVID.

In the Far West and Orana region it's $272,474 compared to $172,038 in January 2020.

"How is someone meant to even attempt to buy a house when the price is crazy?" Ms Fuller said.

"How can you save when it costs so much to live?"

Student loans also affect young people's chances of getting a foot in the door of the housing market.

Emma Horn, 30, purchased her home at the end of 2022 in Thornton in the Hunter Valley and the biggest obstacle was her HECS debt.

"I had to pay it off in full in order for the banks to loan me any money; I sacrificed nearly $30,000 from my deposit savings in order to get a loan," she said.

For more than half a million dollars the ACM video journalist bought a one-storey, two-bedroom, single garage duplex more than an hour away from any major regional centre.

Her parents bought their home on the Central Coast for $120,000 in 1989.

"When they bought their property they managed to afford a three-bedroom, two-storey brick veneer home with a rumpus [room], double garage and backyard in a growing suburb while on one wage," Ms Horn said.

PRD Real Estate agent in Tamworth Mark Sleiman said the housing affordability crisis had shifted people inland to regional hubs like Tamworth, Bathurst, Orange and Wagga.

"It's still quite affordable for an investor or a first home buyer to purchase property in the country compared to the coast," he said.

In the New England and state's north west the median value of a dwelling is $396,884, while in Newcastle and Lake Macquarie it's $788,322.

In the Southern Highlands and Shoalhaven the median value is $100,000 more than that.

But as interest rates continue to rise Mr Sleiman suspects finance approvals to go down and the already-tough rental market to suffer.

"The rental market will get tougher. Unfortunately it won't get easier," he said.

Dominic Unwin, 27, moved to Orange from Mittagong for work in 2022 and had a rocky start in the central west's competitive rental market.

"I had heard Orange was a hard place to find a rental. I ended up paying double rent to secure a place," the Central Western Daily journalist said.

On a single income in an area with an average weekly rent of $448, five months into his lease Mr Unwin was forced out of his new home.

"The owner decided to sell. There were options to move but the biggest challenge was finding the money again in a short space of time," he said.

And there was a dearth of options for single young people in the form of apartments.

"It's a concern for young people. Often we are just renting until we have a deposit ready and only need a small place but in country towns it seems like it's a house or nothing," Mr Unwin said.

"People in their 20s don't need to buy a house yet we just need a roof over our heads that doesn't break the bank and lock us into a seemingly endless cycle of renting."

Historically regional areas were a cheaper place compared to the city, according to UTS Professor Alan Morris.

"Regional places like Bathurst were much cheaper and people could rent for a reasonable price, but clearly that has changed very dramatically in the last couple years with the pandemic," he said.

In January 2020 the median value of weekly rent across NSW was $403 but has spiked to $538 in 2023.

"A lot of people who were long-term renters in these regional areas have been turfed out basically to make way for people who are prepared to pay higher rents," Professor Morris said.

"It's become a bit of a race and it's very, very stressful."

Ideally, people should be paying no more than 30 per cent of their household income on accommodation.

"If you pay more than that you're in housing stress," Professor Morris said.

PRD Real Estate Tamworth chief operating officer Jacqui Bijnens said a single person would need an income of almost $5000 a month to keep pace with the current median rental value of $417 in the New England and north west of the state.

"In regional areas that's higher than an award wage; you'd need on average two full-time incomes to afford a rental at that price," she said.

"A single person on a normal award wage, you'd really need to be looking at something below $300 a week."

With the state's rental vacancy rate sitting at 1.6 per cent compared to 4 per cent in 2020 the options are limited.

Ms Bijnens said in the first 22 days of February PRD Tamworth had received just over 600 rental applications.

Professor Morris says the rental market is causing "an incredibly insecure" situation with knock-on effects like mental health issues.

"People's lives are consumed by what's going to happen with housing affordability," he said.

The word politics doesn't resonate with young people but it should.

Too often we're left out of a conversation that directly affects us. But our generation is key to a thriving future in regional NSW.

We should be using our voices to choose policies that will help us. As a young homeowner I know my voice matters, my vote matters - and yours does too.

We want stability in this crisis-driven economy.