With an old-style three bedroom house with a galvanised roof advertised for $425,000 in Maclean, a similar house in Grafton on the market for $370,000 and a cladding 'starter home' advertised for $325,000 in Yamba, and with newer or larger homes coming it at much higher prices, it is clear that first home buyers are also struggling on the North Coast.
The family home of our dreams is starting to require a debt commitment of almost half a million dollars and is fast becoming as expensive as those in metropolitan areas.
John Howard's housing policy does little to address this problem.
The Age reveals that Australia is now a world leader in unaffordable housing and that neither of the two political parties are addressing the core reasons.
"A survey by consultants Demographia released this year found that Australians paid 6.6 times the median household income for a median-priced home. In New Zealand, Ireland and Britain a median-priced home cost between 5.5 and six times the median yearly household income. In the US and Canada it was between three and four times. An affordable market is regarded as about three times income."
The Age article on Monday: http://www.theage.com.au/news/federal-election-2007-news/a-generations-home-dream-vanishes/2007/11/12/1194766590346.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap1
No comments:
Post a Comment