NEW housing developments in the west are unlikely to convert the dream of buying into a reality for most first-home buyers.

About 21 homes in the Woodville West redevelopment will be set aside for low-to-middle-income earners next year – with 12 in St Clair at Woodville.

Figures released by Housing SA last week show only 32 homes, or 11 per cent of the 362 properties listed exclusively for people on low or middle incomes this year, were in the western suburbs.

Housing Trust Tenants Association (HTTA) spokeswoman Julie MacDonald said buying a home in the west had become nearly impossible for single people and families on a single wage.

“People can’t go and live on the outskirts of Adelaide when they have jobs,” Ms MacDonald said.

Ferryden Park had most affordable housing, with 12 homes, followed by Taperoo, with eight.

Charles Sturt Youth Advisory Committee member Tash Pataki said finding affordable housing in the area was difficult for many young people.

“A lot of the houses going up, even though they’re high-density, are still expensive,” she said.

“Some people are moving out to the northern suburbs because the prices there are cheaper.”

Ms MacDonald said for many Housing SA tenants, $288,000 – the maximum price for homes listed under the Affordable Housing Scheme – still was out of reach.

“The Government needs to look at subsidised housing for single-wage earners,” she said. “We also need more public housing for those who can’t afford to buy into the scheme.”

Since August 2007, when the State Government launched the scheme, only 577 of the 1240 homes listed have been bought by eligible buyers, with the rest released to the open market.

Over the next eight years, about 15 per cent of the 1200 homes in the St Clair development will be for sale under the Affordable Housing scheme.

About 170 of the 570 homes at Woodville West will be for affordable home ownership or rent.

A Department for Families and Communities spokesman said the average price of properties listed under the scheme in the west was $232,200, compared with a median home sale price of more than $400,000 in Adelaide.

“The highest percentage of homes sold in the program is in the northern region, where there is considerable new land release development,” he said.

To view affordable housing in your area, visit www.homestart.com.au.

What should be done to help first homebuyers purchase a house in the western suburbs? Let us know by filling in the feedback box on this page.