As a young person (25) i feel there is more opportunity than ever to purchase property due to the ultra aggressive lending market offerring up to 106% finance, bad credit/self emplyoed lending options, lower intererst rates, and general healthy property market conditions allowing to leverage a property highly.

Our new inflation figures are good news too as we need our incomes to eventually flow on and increase to enable property to hit its straps in the next cycle. We are seeing rising rents and once it becomes only marginal in terms of renting vs buying, the next cycle will kick on for growth again provided incomes have increased.

With rising construction costs such as concrete and petrol having its flow on effect, replacement cost of property cannot be cheaper than it is today so just like 30 years ago, entering the housing market as soon as possible is still the best option.

Back 30 years ago most households survived off one income, only had 4 banks to borrow from, had higher interest rates to contend with, had dependants at younger ages and had less ability to recieve information on leveraging, investing and wealth creation that we are all bombarded with today.

The times have never been better for young Australians, if we work hard and avoid credit traps such as phones and credit cards (which is the real problem restricting most young Aussies not the nature of the current property market), retirement can be a choice as can financial security for our generation.

Its sad and dissapointing that governments look to discourage wealth creation by creating affordable housing initiatives that discourage aspirations of home ownership. We do not want low quality housing either and we do not want the government to waste its money giving people a hand out and a ticket to requiring government assistance for most of their lives as they have no major asset to assist them, nor the need to aspire for one.

Have a good look at your visions, is it realy in line with what you want to see for the future of Australians?

I agree wholeheartedly, housing prices are beyond the reach of ordinary families, even the rent is becoming too much, it's time for Government intervention to give a "fair go" to the little Aussie battler.

The problem is that for too long the housing market has been used, not just for speculation, but for out-right predation. Schemes like negative-gearing should be abolished. Tax increases on ownership of more than one property where that property is used for income purposes (leaving the holiday shack exempt) need to be introduce.

The ownership of at least a one-bedroom unit should be the right of all citizens. Bricks and mortar should not be viewed as an investment for speculation.

Narcissist,

Thats why many people have nothing, live on the cusp and are only 1 payday away from starvation.

Live for today but you will end up with nothing, you owe it to yourself if there is a method of creating wealth to do so. If you dont, you are choosing your own destiny.

Greed is bad i agree but what if you used your money for good? I would rather be able to give to a cause than merely support one.

Do you realy feel those people who have a go, invest in property to create wealth for their retirement, provide housing for the population and ease the government social security burden should be penalised tax wise? Negative gearing is the reason the government does not have as high a public housing burden, and and lesser social security burden.

What eats at my generation is people like you who WE will have to support when you are past slaving away at your job, as you never got out of your own rode and had a go to better yourself and your family's environment. You will end up costing hard working, tax paying people like myself and many in my generation plenty, perhaps 20-30 years of financial, medical and other government assistance.

Thanks Alot.

Realist,

Ever heard of the term "Zero-Sum Gain". In order for Baby Boomer to make a quid from their real-estate investment, Gen X and Gen Y have to pay. Someone wins, someone loses. Perhaps with all your brights, you might invest in food and make a killing on the way from the wharehouse to the shop. This also could fund your retirement. To me predating/speculating on food makes as much [bad] sense as housing.

Alternatively, OLO Contructions Pty Ltd could build 2-3 million houses or units, flooding the market. This would make housing affordable, but would drastically increase the supply side of the equation and the market, seeking equilibrium, would drive the prices down.

For most people, a house is a place to live. It 10 years ago it cost 3 times an average salary, now it costs 5 times. Apart from the initial cost and repayments it is not speculative - it is not for profit. Those sharks that speculate on the basic of human needs do so for profit at the expense of future generations.

Having bought myself a one bedroom shack, when I was 21, I then bought my first "real" house in 1965.
It cost me 5.2 times my annual salary, which was a little less than average. This was an X housing commission house, so no palace, but a good, well built house. Not much after that I became the only earner for my family. It was not even difficult, & that was without public health, & a lot of other government "service's". In fact it was this lack of government, that made it possible.
You see, I paid only 4.5% interest on my loan, as low government spending kept interest rates low.
I also paid only 7.5% income tax. The same low government spending, kept this down as well.
We were not expected to keep every one in the standard to which we aspired, but we did not have homeless, living in the street.
We paid our own doctors bill, but we could afford to.
Our garbage truck was a cheep truck, with a 6 man crew, not a million dollar truck with one man. Half of those blokes were illiterate, but they earned just as much as me, & were paying off their own houses too.
No one was allowed to chose welfare recipient as a job description.
No, things were not cheeper, but we did not have the huge dead weight of bludgers, our kids are saddled with today.