4 ms·

The Australian dream of owning a house is dead in Australia. Only rich people and corporations can afford to buy houses.

fader 3y ago
Indeed, see e.g. https://www.theguardian.com/inequality/2023/nov/25/generational-wealth-gap-study-monash-old-to-young-debt-repayments-savings-rates https://www.theguardian.com/inequality/2023/nov/25/generatio...
tjpnz 3y ago
Same in New Zealand actually. As a longterm resident of Japan it would be cheaper to buy a brand new apartment in the middle of Tokyo than it would some damp hovel in Auckland.
- bushbaba 3y ago
  Could be good news for Japan if they allow for easier immigration.
  - ipaddr 3y ago
    Every country that does has this housing problem.
  - deleted 3y ago
    [deleted]
  - robocat 3y ago
    Auckland is expensive partially due to immigration. Auckland region[1]: The proportion of people born overseas was 41.0%, compared with 27.1% nationally. When over 1/3 of the population is immigrants that causes housing demand. Fabulous "Upzoning New Zealand" article on NZ housing policy: https://worksinprogress.co/issue/upzoning-new-zealand/ https://worksinprogress.co/issue/upzoning-new-zealand/ which mentions Auckland increased housing supply by 4% from 2016 to 2021. It also mentions large house supply growth in Christchurch and how house prices have been going up in Christchurch despite that. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auckland_Region https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auckland_Region
- mistermann 3y ago
  Same in Canada also, and rent is ability the same. The number of formerly or currently middle class homeless people in the near future is going to be a sight to behold.
dalyons 3y ago
its imho subtly worse... rich people, corporations, and children of older people who already own homes. There's a _lot_ of the last group, and its dividing society into two large segments with a widening gap in between, based on nothing but luck of who you were born to.
- sneed_chucker 3y ago
  > its dividing society into two large segments with a widening gap in between, based on nothing but luck of who you were born to. Same as it ever was.
  - dalyons 3y ago
    Sort of. True that throughout history, if you were born to the top very small % of ruling/landed class then you had it easy. This is a much larger chunk of society though, perhaps ~50% that will be permanently generationally better off than the other 50%
    - frumper 3y ago
      It sounds like you've just made the case that today's society is significantly better off than previous ones.
Nursie 3y ago
I'm not sure it's dead. It's certainly under pressure, but here in Perth I can find a few hundred properties under $400k, and banks will lend a working couple both on full-time minimum wage over $400k. Yes, they'd have to find a deposit somewhere (though something like keystart can help with lower deposit requirements). Sure, not all of them are houses (a minority are), there are a lot of villas and apartments in there, not all are in the best areas etc. etc. Perhaps we can say it's on life support here. Over east may be a different story of course, which is probably why we have so many posts in the Perth subreddit about moving to Perth...
canada_dry 3y ago
And from what I understand renters have little/no rights or recourse against greedy landlords (i.e. compared to most G7 countries) who can demand rent increases and/or toss out tenants for very little reason.

fader 3y ago

Indeed, see e.g. https://www.theguardian.com/inequality/2023/nov/25/generational-wealth-gap-study-monash-old-to-young-debt-repayments-savings-rates https://www.theguardian.com/inequality/2023/nov/25/generatio...

tjpnz 3y ago

Same in New Zealand actually. As a longterm resident of Japan it would be cheaper to buy a brand new apartment in the middle of Tokyo than it would some damp hovel in Auckland.

bushbaba 3y ago
Could be good news for Japan if they allow for easier immigration.
- ipaddr 3y ago
  Every country that does has this housing problem.
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
- robocat 3y ago
  Auckland is expensive partially due to immigration. Auckland region[1]: The proportion of people born overseas was 41.0%, compared with 27.1% nationally. When over 1/3 of the population is immigrants that causes housing demand. Fabulous "Upzoning New Zealand" article on NZ housing policy: https://worksinprogress.co/issue/upzoning-new-zealand/ https://worksinprogress.co/issue/upzoning-new-zealand/ which mentions Auckland increased housing supply by 4% from 2016 to 2021. It also mentions large house supply growth in Christchurch and how house prices have been going up in Christchurch despite that. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auckland_Region https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auckland_Region
mistermann 3y ago
Same in Canada also, and rent is ability the same. The number of formerly or currently middle class homeless people in the near future is going to be a sight to behold.

dalyons 3y ago

its imho subtly worse... rich people, corporations, and children of older people who already own homes. There's a _lot_ of the last group, and its dividing society into two large segments with a widening gap in between, based on nothing but luck of who you were born to.

sneed_chucker 3y ago
> its dividing society into two large segments with a widening gap in between, based on nothing but luck of who you were born to. Same as it ever was.
- dalyons 3y ago
  Sort of. True that throughout history, if you were born to the top very small % of ruling/landed class then you had it easy. This is a much larger chunk of society though, perhaps ~50% that will be permanently generationally better off than the other 50%
  - frumper 3y ago
    It sounds like you've just made the case that today's society is significantly better off than previous ones.

Nursie 3y ago

I'm not sure it's dead. It's certainly under pressure, but here in Perth I can find a few hundred properties under $400k, and banks will lend a working couple both on full-time minimum wage over $400k. Yes, they'd have to find a deposit somewhere (though something like keystart can help with lower deposit requirements). Sure, not all of them are houses (a minority are), there are a lot of villas and apartments in there, not all are in the best areas etc. etc. Perhaps we can say it's on life support here. Over east may be a different story of course, which is probably why we have so many posts in the Perth subreddit about moving to Perth...

canada_dry 3y ago

And from what I understand renters have little/no rights or recourse against greedy landlords (i.e. compared to most G7 countries) who can demand rent increases and/or toss out tenants for very little reason.