'No silver bullet' to solving housing affordability

Australia's housing system is no longer working, the federal government's property supply head says, but she still wants ambitious targets set to build new homes.

Chair of the National Housing Supply and Affordability Council Susan Lloyd-Hurwitz said access to secure homes was becoming more challenging, with the types of houses available also diminishing.

In a speech to the National Press Club on Wednesday, Ms Lloyd-Hurwitz said governments needed to act more urgently to address housing concerns.

"It's puzzling to me why, given the acute situation we're in, that we don't prioritise the housing system more than we do," she said.

"There is no quick fix, no silver bullet. It's going to take consistent, patient, often confronting actions, year-in and year-out with all levels of government."

The federal government has agreed with states and territories to set a target of 1.2 million new homes being built nationally by the end of the decade.

While figures released on Monday showed a more than 10 per cent rise in homes being approved in July, it was still well down on what was needed each month to meet the national housing targets.

In May, the council released a report on the state of the housing market which predicted the target would fall short by 260,000 homes.

But Ms Lloyd-Hurwitz said even if the housing goals are not met, large targets should still be set.

"We shouldn't let go of it, we should make that happen," she said.

"Making an ambitious target to galvanise all parts of the system into providing the homes that we need, and not giving up on it, is an important thing to do."

Ms Lloyd-Hurwtiz said housing supply issues were being exacerbated by complex and slow approval systems and a lack of investment in social housing.

She indicated construction issues were also to blame for many of the sector's woes.

"Even if we solved all the other problems in the system, we don't actually have enough construction capacity to deliver the homes we need," she said.

"The stage is set for housing affordability to deteriorate further over the next few years."

The housing boss said there had been a generational shift when it came to concerns about property, particularly about affordability.

She said statistics about what it took to save up for a first home were stark.

"The median house price is now 7.7 times the median income of a household, that's mostly two people working," she said.

"In the 1950s and 60s, for a long time, that number was 3.3 times one income, so it's a considerable change in the affordability that we've seen in that period."

National house prices rose by 0.5 per cent in August, data from CoreLogic showed, the 19th consecutive month property values have increased.