Worst of all, the governments actually make it sound like they care about housing affordability. If they cared so much, they have the tools to fix it. Truth of the matter is that they are deathly scared of asset price deflation. If that million dollar house or condo drops even 100k, and buyers get scared off, the entire economy implodes. So government really doesn't care about who can or can't buy a house as long as it keeps selling for higher prices. And I suppose in a way, I can't blame them. If 20% bitch about not being able to buy a house, its better than 100% bitching about a depression.
FHA 30 year mortgage rate on Thursday was exactly 3.00% on an upswing. Most recent high April 1st was 3.18%. If that is taken out 3.41% is next stop. Then if that gives way looks like 5.00% rates will be next. Inflation, what inflation bwahaha.
And also assuming that the buyer has enough savings for the down payment. Many times they can't even afford to pay the down payment and when they are forced to take a zero-down mortgage, the mortgage interest rate is much higher. The property prices in these cities are way out of line of the income level of the domestic economy.
Well, it's actually a bad thing that many still borrow from friends and family to make the down payment. What really matters is the debt load they take on relative to the money they have left over after taxes, living expenses, education, cars, credit cards,...
I know, i know, you and a few others in here believe everyone should just stay in their country of origin, because cultural purity is best. I'm just not going to argue this idiocy anymore.
The fact is, this property market boom is global and that should make you question why, other than "it's because Chinese and Indians are invading". Since the thread is specifically about Australia, the fact is that Sydney harbor and coastal towns are among the most expensive real estate in the world. While it's true that a percentage is owned by Asians, these are mostly born and bread in Australia, went to make their fortunes in Hong Kong and came back a couple years before mainland Chinese started taking over Hong Kong, because not all Chinese are communists intent on ruling your world. But the vast majority of property owners in Sydney's wealthy neighborhoods are anglo Australian who made their fortunes in the 2 dozen or so conglomerates that control the country's economy, from banking, distribution, media, mining, etc. and who somehow believe that Australia is an extension of the (white) UK, with no knowledge that Chinese have been in Australia since the mid 1800s and many are as oyoy as any Ozzie bloke. Furthermore, Australia also has Japanese and Korean communities that are as distant from Chinese as Mediterranean countries are from Scandinavians. But that's too much to consider for the racists. For those of you who think non white migrations to your countries should be ended, remember that whites migrated to the Americas, Australia/NZ/SA and colonized half the world before retreating. You arbitrarily decide that migration controls should start under your watch and can't even recognize that migration and the migrants' drive is what made America the world's most powerful country in the world.
According to google: Mean wage in Australia is 89K, mean house price is 900K. Median wage is 76K, median house 750K The ratios for both averages are about the same, around 10:1 House prices should be (used to be) around 3x the single persons wage. But double income (both partners earning good money) has bid up house prices to 5x. Then low interest rates have pushed things up even further to 10x, maybe even 11x this year. A 700K mortgage costs around 3000 a month to pay off at current mortgage rates. Thats just about affordable with a combined household income of 8000 a month after tax.
Stop being paranoid about the race s***!!! What all of us, not just a few of us, believe is that you should trade with others in good faith, not in unfair trade terms and then turn around to go to the countries that you screwed with unfair trade terms to strip away the living space of that country's young generation with your ill-gotten gains. I propose not only all of the countries 1) ban foreigners from buying properties but also 2) expropriate all of the property owned by foreigners and auction them off to local residents. They might have bought the property but the property still sits on the sovereign land of our country. There, housing affordability problem solved!