The great Australian dream has now ended

[spookyturtle 9,465]

SOARING property prices are killing off the great Australian dream.

Latest real estate figures show the median house price in Australia's largest city, Sydney, has hit a record $600,000 and could reach $700,00 this year.

And property experts warned yesterday that the next generation of home buyers would have to raise children in apartments.

Sydney would increasingly become like New York: The only accessible green space being the local park.

Those able to afford a unit would be the lucky ones, with renter numbers to surpass owners by the end of the decade, Residex CEO John Edwards told The Daily Telegraph.

Blue-collar workers were likely to be the hardest hit, he claimed, as higher-earning middle managers won a city-wide bidding war.

"The Great Australian Dream is dying," Mr Edwards said yesterday.

"Housing in Sydney is becoming very close to completely unaffordable.

"You are going to have Sydney become more like New York - more people will rent than own."

SQM Research managing director Louis Christopher said: "When it comes to houses on your standard quarter acre block, you will find that that is going to be more and more unaffordable over a period of time.

"What you are going to see is more and more families buying into a unit or a townhouse as their first owner-occupied purchase," Mr Christopher said. "It's already [happening]."

A home-values report released yesterday by RP Data Rismark showed that the city's median price for house sales in the last quarter of 2009 was $600,000, up 10.6 per cent on the same period in 2008.

And there are predictions that house prices could rise another 20 per cent this year alone, which would push the median figure past $700,000.

Property Planning Australia CEO Mark Armstrong said an increasing number of investors would enter the market in 2010, which would lead to prices "taking off".

"There is no doubt price growth in Sydney this year will exceed 2009 levels and we could see as much as 20 per cent growth," he said.

Meanwhile, Australian Property Monitors economist Matthew Bell said the best way that Australians could mitigate unaffordability would be "to build more houses".

But that could only happen if more land was released, Mr Bell said, and the track record was not good. The alternative was to build apartment complexes in established suburbs.

"If people want their kids to be able to afford a home in the bigger capitals that's something we [will] have to deal with," he said.

"There [will] have to be a change in mindset."

http://www.news.com.au/national/the-great-...r-1225824919790

[Allamericankiwi 14]

we need a worldwide economic downturn to bring property prices down.....hang on.......

[scandal 951]

Silly Spooky.

When will you realize that if house prices keep rising in Australia to the point where they are utterly unaffordable, that is a sign of the great superiority of the Australian way of life? Just wait till median home prices in Sydney exceed $1Million, then $2million, I'm just giddy with anticipation at the prospects!

[Allamericankiwi 14]

health is freeeeeeeee.... no reform required.....does that count as superior...:-) and sadly... the price of real estate where I live, next to some awesome beaches, incredible weather, not alot of traffic, not much crime, clean and family friendly.....sadly its half the price of sydney....: )

[NickD 202]

Could move in with the snakes and crocodiles, actually they make better neighbors than people.

[Pooky 3,784]

You're missing the point here. If Aussie prices keep rising, we might be stuck with Booyah forever!

[Ban Hammer 13,337]

You're missing the point here. If Aussie prices keep rising, we might be stuck with Booyah forever!

he's rich enough, it won't affect him.

[Ali G. 37]

I don't know what is more interesting, the fact that Australia is beating the world trend, with prices rising during the worst global recession since the 30's or why Spook and Scandal are so obsessed.

But anyways, maybe they should stop and ponder why prices in a country almost as large as the US but with only 22 million people are rising so rapidly?

Hints:

Supply and Demand

Type of migrants moving there

Wealth and prosperity of the nation and its people

When I was there in December/January, you would have thought it was the .com boom times. All good an well for spook to beat on about being the best in the universe and scandal assuming the law of the land here is the best in the galaxy. At the end of the day, it's quality of life counts the most; and we all know who is leading in this area.

Edited January 30, 2010 by Booyah

[My Name Is Nobody 3]

It will all go KABOOM in the near future.

[Ali G. 37]

It will all go KABOOM in the near future.

Why? Their growth was not built on artificial property price increases. It's built on genuine supply and demand. You also have a resource rich country, with a population almost as high (or low) as the number of unskilled / uneducated illegal aliens in this country. Their largest trade partners are now in Asia (inc India), so they are basically set.

Edited January 30, 2010 by Booyah

[Ali G. 37]

The fact is excluding Americans, a hell of a lot of professionals from around the world want to and are moving there. It's not being cocky either but the reality is that they do offer an awesome quality of life and have made it accessible by most. It's something they are well recognized for around the world; well recognized by those living outside the US. The thought of someone else being better, simply does not compute here. That is why people like Scandal and spook have to find such articles to make themselves feel better, sleep at night and all.

Maybe Spook should be looking at when the last skyscraper was built in Boston, 1977.

Edited January 30, 2010 by Booyah

[SuperDuper! 230]

we need a worldwide economic downturn to bring property prices down.....hang on.......

It's on the way. Greece is going belly up. Shhh, don't tell anyone.

[Ali G. 37]

It's on the way. Greece is going belly up. Shhh, don't tell anyone.

Like China, the Australian government is one of few in the world that has billions of dollars in surplus reserves. Modern tax system (GST) with almost zero loopholes. Unlike republicans, we also want to have a rich and powerful government, rather than a every man to themselves approach.

Australian banks are now ranked the second most stable in the world, with one just making a $2.8 billion profit. In the last ten years, all of their banks and large companies have made a solid profit. All without exploiting other countries or waging any war. Excluding some members on VJ that are clearly jealous, it's why most other people abroad admire them.

Think about it, Australia has nowhere but up to go. When their unemployment rate has now dropped to 5.5%, it's going to fall close to zero, once the global economy recovers. Actually, there are a few people I work with and know who are looking forward to me helping them move there, once I am settled back in.

Edited January 30, 2010 by Booyah

[Ali G. 37]

PS Killing off the Australian dream refers to owning a home..

I did particularly enjoy this part. "And there are predictions that house prices could rise another 20 per cent this year alone, which would push the median figure past $700,000."

Carry on Scandal, about how awesome illegal aliens are for America.

Edited January 30, 2010 by Booyah

[scandal 951]

http://www.budget.gov.au/2008-09/content/fbo/html/part_1.htm

Part 1: Australian Government Budget Outcome

Overview

In 2008-09, the Australian Government general government sector recorded an underlying cash deficit of $27.1 billion (2.3 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP)). The fiscal balance was in deficit by $29.7 billion (2.5 per cent of GDP).

Net debt, net financial worth and net worth

At the end of 2008-09, the level of Australian Government net debt was -$16.1 billion (1.3 per cent of GDP)