Will Housing Affordability Improve in Australia?

I feel I'm not alone in being really frustrated with the state of housing affordability.

For context I am late 20s with a partner, financially savvy, have a good income and savings yet home ownership is almost entirely out of reach. That is - without making drastic life changes that would significantly reduce quality of life (eg. living in a run-down shoebox or moving to undesirable areas with are significantly further from work, family, friends etc).

In other words- what I can afford now is simply not worth being drowned in debt for the next 30-years, I would rather continue to rent in shared housing or do something more radical like move internationally. For most younger people the cost of living pressures have only pushed the concept of home ownership further into the category of 'never going to happen' unless you are lucky enough to get a large inheritance or hit Tattslotto.

I would like to gauge the wider OzBargain community thoughts on WILL THE STATE OF AFFORDABLE HOUSING IMPROVE IN AUSTRALIA

Believe that as a country we need to strip incentives that make investing in housing so lucrative for already wealthy investors, find ways of increasing housing supply and fundamentally change the perception of housing as investments but as shelter.

Poll Options

  • 23
    Yes - Housing Affordability will Improve
  • 675
    No - Housing Affordability will continue to get worse
  • 62
    The situation will stay more or less the same

Comments

  • I have 3 young kids, i'm trying to get them one each near to me to the best of my ability. House prices will be out of the world when they are adults. Sydney will probably be like $4m median and Melbourne $3m in 20 years time conservatively. That's when i'll move to South East Asia to retire.

  • +1
    • Remove negative gearing
    • Cut down immigration
    • Ban foreign investment/ownership

    If you achieve the above 3, you'll be able to buy a house in a good area for 900k-1M

    • Immigration is the only thing keeping the economy going right now. Our overall GDP is growing, but on a per capita basis we've been in a recession since mid last year. Politicians are afraid to cut immigration.

      • people forget benefits of immigration. a 30% drop in house prices isn't going to help you if you don't have a job/ inflation goes through the roof and interest rates are twice what it is currently

      • Some sectors of the economy are actually doing quite well like Agriculture.

        Dampened retail demand is starting to correct now.

  • +1

    Buy what you can afford, where you can afford. So many Australians poked their noses up at anywhere other than Sydney or Melbourne. Qld was the place to buy 5 years ago, now you need to find somewhere else, or be happy in a unit.

    • +1

      This. When I bought 7 years ago, the suburb I really wanted to buy in was just slightly out of my price range, so instead of waiting for that miracle house to come up, I went 2-3 suburbs further away. Sure, less desirable, some streets looked rough, whenever I told people where I lived they would always ask if I felt safe. Havent had any problems since I bought the place and I dont ever think "if only I had bought in suburb xyz, life would be so much better".

  • +1

    Take a different perspective. Communication, transport and job decentralisation will improve. So you can choose not to live in expensive areas. Pick a town you think will be close to future fast rail and rent vest for future.

  • +1

    Spot on frustration shared by many. Housing feels like a rigged game, where investors outbid homebuyers and supply can’t keep up.

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