{"id":1587331,"date":"2024-04-03T05:55:11","date_gmt":"2024-04-03T05:55:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/michaelwest.com.au\/?p=386206"},"modified":"2024-04-03T05:55:11","modified_gmt":"2024-04-03T05:55:11","slug":"snowbirds-and-snakes-how-to-end-the-hunger-games-of-housing-affordability","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/2024\/04\/03\/snowbirds-and-snakes-how-to-end-the-hunger-games-of-housing-affordability\/","title":{"rendered":"Snowbirds and snakes. How to end the \u2018Hunger Games\u2019 of housing affordability"},"content":{"rendered":"
In this final instalment of the Housing Hunger Games series, Harry Chemay<\/strong> identifies all policy culprits and all the fixes government can make to deliver more affordable housing for renters and first-home-buyers.<\/span><\/p>\n We\u2019ve arrived at the concluding piece in this trilogy on Australia\u2019s housing \u2018Hunger Games\u2019.<\/p>\n A mismatched duel between renters and hopeful first home buyers on the one side and residential property owners on the other, happiest when interest rates are low and\/or prices are rising.<\/p>\n How happy? Just released Australian Bureau of Statistics data now sees household balance sheets collectively in excess of $15 trillion<\/a>, of which almost $11 trillion is in \u2018land and dwellings\u2019. If the typical Australian adult now has the second-highest median wealth<\/a> in the world (after Belgium), it\u2019s mostly due to soil, bricks and mortar.<\/p>\n With Australians stuck in the private rental market for longer, the percentage of renters who become homeowners each year has fallen from 14% in the early 2000s to 10% more recently.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n The impact of this delay in home ownership is crystalised by the Australian Institute of Health and Wellbeing (AIHW), an independent statutory Australian Government agency with a remit to maintain health and welfare data.<\/p>\n