By Ben Knight and Ruth Fogarty
Australia’s obsession with real estate is practically a national sport, with spectators watching auctions as keenly as any footy game.
But in Melbourne and Sydney, some first homebuyers are faced with difficult choices: vast mortgages, vulnerable to interest rates rising; the prospect of moving to the city’s fringes, or even moving back home.
Tougher still is the realisation that they are competing with experienced investors equipped with tax breaks and negative gearing.
Now as the housing market begins to slow down, predictions of a crash are beginning to emerge. For the younger generation, that’s exactly what they’re banking on.
Here are a few different perspectives on the current housing debate:
Jules McKendry: The first homebuyer
Jules McKendry and her partner have spent every weekend for a year trying to buy their first home.
At just 25, Ms McKendry has managed to save $150,000 towards a deposit, but she is feeling ripped off.
She has bid and lost on many properties around Melbourne, but her competition is not other homebuyers — it’s investors.
For Ms McKendry, a collapse in the property market cannot come soon enough.
“If the prices keep doing what they are doing it now, there’s no way my kids will ever own a house,” she said.
“To them it will be normal, because no-one will own houses.”
Millie, Ben and Daisy Robson: The young family
Top Comments
all I've ever wanted is a home of my own; My dad was in the air force and we moved a lot when I was growing up; in fact even after I left home I have still moved every three years. With the way things are I'll never have my dream.
Perhaps renting and investing money in shares is a better onion to generate wealth.