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New research by HtAG Analytics has revealed how long it takes to pay a mortgage in Tasmania. Picture: Supplied

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SKY-HIGH home prices and rising interest rates mean Tasmanian homebuyers now need to spend up to six decades to pay off their mortgages, new research reveals.

Property technology firm HtAG Analytics showed how housing affordability continued to plummet by analysing the “years to own” metric which estimated the number of years it would take a homebuyer to repay their home loan based on home prices, interest rates and median family income levels.

Sandy Bay houses were Tasmania’s least affordable, taking an average of 64 years to own.

The research showed that most of the top 10 suburbs were outside of the city, aside from Battery Point at No.8 and 50 years to own.

Glengarry, Orford, Cradoc and Mole Creek houses ranged from 54 to 58 years.

Average years to own a home outright for each state. Source: HtAG Analytics.

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The unit sector was dominated by city suburbs, with Battery Point and Hobart coming in at 35 years, followed by Sandy Bay and Lindisfarne at 31 years.

At a council level, houses in the Tasman were the least affordable at 72 years to own, then George Town (56 years) and Hobart city (52 years).

Derwent Valley and Sorell units came in at 29 years, followed by Southern Midlands and Kingborough at 28.

A multimillion-dollar home at No.33 Duke St, Sandy Bay is on the market with Lennard McLure.

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Across the nation, houses are the least affordable in New South Wales, taking an average of 42 years to own, followed by Victoria with an average of 39 years and Tasmania at 38 years.

HtAG Analytics co-founder Alex Fedoseev said the major factors which impacted the years to own metric were high home prices, median wage per suburb, rising interest rates and the socioeconomics of the area.

“There could be a situation where prices may not be that high but wages in that locality are below the city average … the affordability metric will actually be higher,” Mr Fedoseev said.

HtAG Analytics co-founder Alex Fedoseev.

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“The higher the interest rates, the higher the repayments, the less likely the families in the neighbourhood based on their current wages can afford the repayments.”

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Real Estate Institute of Australia’s president Hayden Groves said rapid rate rises had further deteriorated housing affordability as well as the average loan size not changing by much.

“This all goes back to a lack of supply problem as to why we’re still seeing house prices increase,” Mr Groves said.

“There are fewer property transactions and there are fewer listings in the market. People who already own real estate who are looking to move around the market find it’s very difficult to find the next property that meets their needs. They’re staying put.”

REIA president Hayden Groves.

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Mr Groves said he was uncertain about when housing affordability conditions would improve as more demand came into the market and supply lagged behind, especially with constraints in the construction sector keeping projects on hold.

He said the REIA was calling on the Greens and the Opposition in the federal parliament to pass the Housing Australia Future Fund.

“We do need more supply in the market and we need it now. The less we talk about it and the more we do, the better it’ll be for housing affordability going forward,” Mr Groves said.

“I think affordability will continue to deteriorate before it gets better and that could be as late as 2025, 2026.”