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It's a phenomenon world over, a very direct consequence of wealth inequality which is increasing at similar rates everywhere. Even in the best countries, the to
by potamic 1y ago
It's a phenomenon world over, a very direct consequence of wealth inequality which is increasing at similar rates everywhere. Even in the best countries, the top 10% holds 50% of wealth. The remaining 90% is completely priced out as the wealthy compete with each other raising prices up.
It's a marked failure of democracy that the 90% continue to get a raw deal for themselves and cannot manage to rally together and secure their interests. Shelter is probably the highest expense item for anyone. Reducing that would ease financial pressure immensely and uplift quality of life like no other single thing can. You would think it should be obvious that people make this their top priority and use their collective voting power to limit property ownership. But there is not a single example in any democracy where people have managed to do this.
- GianFabien 1y agoDemocracy is a mirage. The industry groups and lobbyists own the politicians. Persons who strive to work their way up within the political parties are driven by hubris and greed. Pure ideology gets you nowhere. Being a good party operative, aka selling your soul to the devils, is the road paved with gold to a seat.
- skybrian 1y agoApparently 67% of Australians own their own homes [1], which suggests that it’s not just the top 10% driving prices up? [1] https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/australias-welfare/home-ownership-and-housing-tenure https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/australias-welfare/home-owne...
- tmnvix 1y agoNot quite. 67% of households are owner-occupied. This means adult children living with parents are counted in the 67%. Also flatmates and boarders, elderly parents, etc. Obviously children are not home owners as well. A lot less than 67% of Australians own their home.
- skybrian 1y agoOops, thanks for clarifying.
- potamic 1y agoMost people own a home for living and purchase it maybe once in their life time. It's the wealthy that engage in speculation and use real estate as an investment vehicle. This kind of behaviour creates an artificial demand for the resource raising its value. The 67% ownership is also the figure that stands today as a result of purchases going back many decades during better times. As the report shows, ownership has been reducing successively with each generation even as the dependency on mortgage has been increasing. The ease, if not ability, of owning a home is definitely going down.