July 19, 2026 — 5:43pmA rising number of Australians are losing faith the federal government will fix the housing crisis, despite a budget that was aimed at levelling the property playing field.Exclusive data provided to this masthead from Amplify, a non-partisan community group, showed 63 per cent of respondents did not trust the government to take the right actions to improve housing availability.A rising number of Australians are losing faith in the federal government to fix the housing crisis, but it’s West Australians and Tasmanians feeling the pinch more than other states.AFRThat negative sentiment was up from 61 per cent before the government announced a wind-back of investor tax breaks as part of the federal budget, handed down in May.The Albanese government knowingly spent that political capital, expecting the criticisms of predominantly older Australians to be offset by the support it garnered from helping younger generations – the biggest voting bloc.This latest data suggests that gamble had not paid off, with 41 per cent believing the budget would make it harder for young people to buy their first home, and 27 per cent saying it would make no difference.Less than one-quarter thought the changes would make it easier.“The fact that so many Australians are at best unsure and at worst think that it might even make the housing crisis worse, I think the government would be disappointed,” Amplify executive director Martin Codina said.“Australians are feeling like the budget might redistribute the winners and the losers in the housing market, but might not do enough to actually solve the housing crisis.”The polling, which surveyed just over 4000 Australians between June 11 and July 3, also found two-thirds of the public felt their money did not go as far today as it did last year.West Australians and Tasmanians reported feeling the pinch more than other states.“It’s very hard to find any group that’s feeling more optimistic or better off,” Codina said.Lisa Munnecke, a marketing executive from Seaford, Victoria, has an impressive property portfolio. She bought her first home at 19 years old but is selling off her investments to help her finance her children and grandchildren’s futures.She is among the investors offloading their portfolios – 33 per cent of respondents were “likely” to sell an investment property because of the budget changes to the capital gains tax discount and negative gearing.“I could see where this government was likely to go and the way the economy was likely to go,” Munnecke said.“I don’t care which party you’re talking about quite frankly, I just call it an epic fail. The last two decades are just an epic fail.”Twenty-four per cent of those surveyed were “seriously considering” moving into commercial property as a result.Faith in the government to build enough homes also fell, and 65 per cent were not confident the National Housing Accord target of 1.2 million homes by 2029 would be achieved, and that the target itself was not ambitious enough.“Clearly, not only do we have a housing supply crisis in Australia, we’ve also got a crisis of confidence,” Codina said.“We want to see governments take important and necessary decisions to really do two things; to both make it easier and quicker to see housing come into the market … particularly in terms of approvals and regulatory arrangements.“Secondly, to do more to bring down the cost of construction. That’s clearly a major contributor to the number of houses that are being built and to the affordability of housing generally.”Treasurer Jim Chalmers told the ABC last week that housing starts, investment and approvals were all growing.“We’re turning things around on housing. We are moderating net overseas migration quite substantially. Those two things are happening simultaneously,” Chalmers said.Since the budget, home values in Sydney and Melbourne suffered significant drops, were stable in Adelaide, and continued to rise, albeit at a slower rate, in Brisbane, Perth and Darwin.Jesse Di Loreto, an auctioneer and real estate agent with Richard Matthews Real Estate, believes Sydney’s property market had levelled out, while casting doubt on any benefits first-home buyers had gained.“We’re seeing a lack of stock in the marketplace, and it’s really driving competition. [That’s] very different to a month or two ago where there was far more on the market,” Di Loreto said.“We’ve found a level in the markets we’re dealing in right now.“I don’t think that any of the government decisions have had any bearing on the first home buyer market at all.”The opposition has also hit out, claiming Australians were poorer today compared to four years ago.More:Property marketPerthProperty pricesProperty investmentFrom our partners