Housing in all capitals is either seriously or severely unaffordable according to this report by an international consultant: http://www.demographia.com/dhi-ix2005q3.pdf They measure median house price vs median household income. Interesting read. Not sure what conclusions to draw as yet. What do others think?
I'm not sure if it's fair to compare house prices vs income, without taking into account interest rates. Interest rates have fallen dramatically since the 1980's, which has meant that people have had more money to spend on house prices. Nonetheless, my wife and I are 28, earn good incomes, save money hard, invest, yet can still only afford half of a 2br semi $350k/$700k in Rozelle. Something is wrong here...
No - nothing is wrong - that's just supply and demand. There are plenty of people who are able (and willing) to pay that kind of money - so that's what it costs. Your $350K will buy you a very nice house in Adelaide. It's all relative
Your $350K will also buy you a very nice unit or possibly townhouse in Baulkham Hills. It's also about where you're prepared to live
$350K will pick up a 4 bed 2 bath 2 storey brick/chamfer on 2.5 acres with an aboveground pool, at Karana Downs (28 km from Brisbane CBD, 15 km from Ipswich, within 1 km of Brisbane River, a good standard golf course, and 7 km to millionaire's row of Pullenvale). Good schools, major shopping centre nearby. Its bloody hot at the moment though - and there is no public transport to speak of - I'd stay in the 2brm semi at Rozelle ;-) (plus The Bridge has a better vibe than any of the local pubs here) It's also about if you're prepared to live in Brisbane ;-)
That report was interesting, Nigel, but scary to see that Australia is mentioned as having the "biggest housing crisis in the world"! We are actually ranked just behind NY now
It will be 'interesting' to see some of the social divides this creates...... or indeed........ has already created. What chance do our kids have to: a) Own their own home in Sydney b) Live anywhere near their parents (although this may not be high on their priority list anyway ) * Note to self: Don't forget to ensure kids get a good financial education! Yet we seem to have a series of Governments with no idea how to solve some of this mess! As Sydney gets bigger, various governments have consistently shown themselves to be 'brilliant economic managers' by for example cutting back Departments looking after vital infrastructure. "Damn we're good........no.....we're brilliant economic managers! We just saved another $500mil by a) reducing those pesky maintenance staff b) deferring that infrastructure expansion c) self regulating d) eliminating that.....what was it called again?......oh yes.......preventative maintenance or something...........and we're almost certain these cost savings won't come back to bite us on the bum until well after the next election anyway " *Pause for applause" Then there is the old pearl how to solve many of our future perceived labor problems by simply directing all immigration into Sydney. No problem there at all. Has anyone had a look at the lovely new 'kneejerk' suburbs we are creating now to solve this ever expanding crisis? Have a look around Rhodes, Meadowbank, Liberty Grove, Newington etc. They win various architectural design awards and are wonderful because they are within walking distance of of the now vital a) coffee shop b) Woolworths and c) pizza takeaway etc. Maybe this is just me, but we seem to describe high and medium density housing now as a wondefully ingenious solution to giving people exactly what they want? Is it what they want......or is even the high density stuff looking like a palace now because it at least may just be affordable? Indeed, is the mentality of slapping ourselves on the back now for solving the problem of fitting ten times as many people on the same amount of land simply creating future slums. I'll be fascinated to go back to some of these high density suburbs in 20 years when the glossy marketing signs and fresh paint has disappeared and see what we have left. I hope it's not to visit my kids. We're pushed the price of land up in Sydney to such ridiculous levels, you almost need to put high density on it to make it affordable! Maybe it's time these Governments pulled their heads out of their collective orifices and did something about this! * I know....I know.....I shocked myself by making such a stupid statement too..... There's certainly a number of things that could be reviewed. Remember the 'decentralisation' policy back in the late 1970's? They were going to expand places like Dubbo, Bathurst, Orange, Albury etc. Let's relook at it! Glebe, it may not exactly be the right thing for you, but I'm sure if many families in Sydney were offered the choice of relocating with work to say Coffs Harbour, Port Macquarie, Newcastle, Bathurst, Orange, Albury there would be many a large cloud of dust on the outskirts of Sydney. As I said, maybe it's just me but that quote on the bottom of Nigel's Report still rings true to me and I'd like to think it's something that would be an option for my kids. .......one of the best instincts in us is that which induces us to have one little piece of earth with a house and a garden which is ours; to which we can withdraw, in which we can be among friends, into which no stranger may come against our will. (Sir) Robert Menzies, 1942
Alan, you may find this article in The Australian to be to your liking: http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,17938243%5E25658,00.html Dave
Hi Dave. I was wondering when I started reading that article what was going to be 'to my liking'? From the Bernard Salt article: I HAVE thought about this long and hard all summer. Should I disclose what I am about to disclose or should I continue to cover it up? But how can I continue to pretend that I don't have these "thoughts", these "feelings"? I am sure there are others out there just like me but I suspect that they too have been bullied into silence. I can see it in their eyes: our forbidden passion simmers just below the surface............. Those demographers really know how to write a hot article don't they? There's probably a number of wonderful TV Shows that could spin off this sort of thing. Lets see...... a) Desperate Demographers b) Sex in the Demographically Changing City etc....etc. No you're right........ "I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take(high density) any more!!!!!!!!
The story about the evil high-density developer empire against a small band of rebel suburbanists fighting to prevent high-rise apartment construction ... "Stair Wars" The story about explorers going boldly where no man has gone before - up the stair well of a high rise apartment block ... "Stair Trek" The story of an eccentric, but brilliant doctor treating his patients in the big city while longing for a quarter-acre block in suburbia ... "House" The story of a tough bouncer paid to keep a dirty bar clean by night, while studying by day to become a town planner ... "Road House" The story of a young man, fighting to protect his family house from developments such as duplexes - believing that every house deserves its own yard ... "Home Alone" ... mmm I'd better stop now!
