The cost-of-living crisis that continues to grip Australia has shown no signs of letting up, and its impacts are largely being felt by the country’s younger generations.
First home buyers in 2023 are facing the prospect of purchasing a house valued ten times more than their annual salary with some Gen Z and Millennials showing less faith in their ability to buy in their lifetime according to news.com.au’s Great Aussie Debate survey.
Almost 20 per cent of the survey’s 50,000 respondents still have the aim of chasing the “Australian dream” of buying a house however people in the 18-29 age group are losing hope with the majority admitting they wanted to own a home but “don’t think about it” as they will “never be able to afford it”.
Just 26 per cent of Gen Z and Millennials said they owned their home in the survey while 2.4 of all respondents said they were “happy” to rent over buying a house.
According to the CoreLogic Home Value Index released in August, the median price of a house in Sydney sailed past $1.3 million while houses in Brisbane, Canberra and Melbourne were all upwards of $800,000 on average.
Units also aren’t much cheaper, costing an average of $600,000 or more in Canberra and Melbourne and more than $800,000 in Sydney.
Other financial burdens have likely affected young people and their perception of their ability to buy a home, including current interest rates, everyday costs including groceries and utilities, and tertiary education fees.
An annual indexation on former students and their HECS-HELP loan debt was applied on June 1 with an increase of 7.1 per cent, providing an extra barrier to young people building their savings with more of their pay going towards fees.
The current rate of 4.1 per cent means homeowners with an $800,000 house are having to fork out more than $3000 a month on repayments.
With the cost of living crisis comfortably one of the most crucial issues in the country, the federal government has moved to bring relief to Australians struggling financially.
JobSeeker, Youth Allowance and partnered parenting rates were lifted by $40 a fortnight in a measure estimated to have a net cost of $4.7 billion with about 782,000 Aussies using JobSeeker, 222,000 on Youth Allowance and 64,000 families benefitting from the parenting payment.
(SKY NEWS)
