All good points Scott, again.  The silence has been deafening on this issue from both leaders, let alone the incompetent housing minister. They have vested interests.  Did Julia Gillard mention she scored a job for her partner selling apartments to foreigners?  Well she did and just happened to relax foreign investment rules shortly after (google it).  In some countries they call it corruption.  And Tony, well if he’s carrying a $700K mortgage these days the last thing he wants to see is a softening of the market - negative equity at age 52 would not be pleasant!

We are in a global economy and the global economy..  I have yet to make up my mind on which party I shall vote for.. I, however, have made up my mind on which parties I am not voting for.  Labor and Greens.  The ETS is my biggest fear to the health of the Australian economy into the future.  As for the housing affordability..yes it is a complex problem.  The US is heading for a double dip recession, Europe is flat lining at best and there is a very real chance of a reduction in the “boom” in China.  Australia will not go unscathed from these events and housing will become more affordable I believe.  Either from direct deflation of prices or a long period of zero growth or a combination of both..  The average Melbourne home is around 7.5/8 times average earnings now.  This is not sustainable and zero growth over a number of years and/or deflationary effects will see that multiple of earnings required come down. All the QE (Quantitive Easing aka Money Printing) in the US of A will lead to higher inflation at some point..  medium term is my guess 2 to 5 years and Australia will be seeing much higher interest rates on their mortgages.  Nearer term cost of borrowing pressure from Europe will force the banks to raise rates outside of RBA moves.  If I was buying a house now I would be factoring interest rates of around 13% within 5 years.  I also would consider a home purchase as “shelter” and “my own place” rather than an ATM by using any equity gains to fund my lifestyle.  Not sure who will win the election, I am fairly sure whoever gets in won’t win the one after.  I am expecting the next wave of economic turmoil to hit our shores while this “winner” is on watch..  The voting public will punish the “winner” next round.
Still calling the ASX to drop below 3000 and the DOW 5000ish and Gold $2400USD/Oz before this ends.
Happy trails.

“The housing supply problem” this stuff makes me want to smash my head against a wall - listings are continuing to increase, where is the lack of supply? i recall the california building industry talking lack of supply in 2006, funny how that ended up. agents have been talking the same crap in vancouver - now heading off the cliff - like the rest of canada.

governments parroting RE propaganda doesn’t do anything to help the problem.

on the fact of no housing minister, i’d rather have no minister than the efforts of tanya plibersek. she was attacking the rodent government before the 2007 election for the first home buyers grant - specifically because it pushed up prices. then it’s doubled under her watch and she defends it.

you should actually be proud of yourself, scott. you are the only person who i’ve ever seen put a hard question to tanya plibersek. all too often she gets away with her sweet librarian routine and is never held to account.

she was on the supposed hard hitting MTR yesterday with andrew bolt and steve price. it sounded like catch up chat in a coffee shop, not one question regarding housing.

It is a shame this has not become a significant political issue in the election campaign. Neither side has the solution to the problem. There are several solutions such as ending negative gearing on existing houses but the parties seem reluctant to pursue them. Anyway the affordability issue could sort itself out like in the USA if the property bubble bursts.

The amount of homeless people driven onto the streets in 30 years time will be huge! It is bad enough now.. Maybe they should think about that now!

Thanks for sharing this information with us Scott. 

I was about to start a FHSA, but since we’re in an election, would your advice be to hold off until afterwards?

Nice work Scott. How is it possible that Julia still has a mortgage on her salary and paying only $140k in the first place. If she is that financially inept no wonder the country is in such a bad state!

What ever!

Was disappointed with both parties outlines of housing affordability policy, especially Tony Abbott. It is common knowledge that the cost of housing is one of the greatest issues Australians face in the current climate, and yet other, less important topics seem to dominate the electoral debate (I won’t mention boat people or climate change)…

Mate you should be asking whether Saving & Investment should be part of the national curriculum - and what they are doing to educate people living week to week, off a credit card, how to buy a house etc etc

Housing affordability is a serious issue weighing on the minds of many voters.. Personally not concerned with JG and TA’s first homes but very much interested in their ideas and policies about the housing affordability issue.

what about those, like myself, who had bought a home and then sold up to concentrate on making sure your wife and 3 kids had good jobs and better education and in some cases access to specialist doctors/ treatments....3 years after selling ...our first home, which we renovated, i have more money in the bank than what we did with our first house, however, we cant get a loan or afford repayments on another house. Back to renting again....Regrets?? Sometimes...but at least I have money to invest in my families well being… What’s more important?

If we can get taxed on our personal savings, why isn’t the interest on our personal debts (mortgage or otherwise) tax deductible?

If we can get taxed on our personal savings, why isn’t the interest on our personal debts (mortgage or otherwise) tax deductible?

If the $1000PA from the government given towards the FHSA will mean the difference between you buying a home and not. Then you shouldn’t be buying in the first place.

Yes every $1000 makes a difference, but the government needs to do something other than throw money at FH buyers… Like bring the actual cost of housing down.

The only thing a FHSA account is good for is locking your money away.

Yes you have asked them about their home.  What other property investments do they have that may be keeping other people in the rental market???

I loved the 3-6-3 theory

Chris, I have kids in gr 3 & 5 and both are doing things in relation to money, business and banks and they have even been talking about credit unions, which I was very pleased about.
The biggest problem is parents do not know how to say “NO...” to kids and put themselves into so much personal debt how are kids supposed to learn from that as they are the role models. None of my kids have a mobile phone, but they want one because their friends have them.

when the goverment introduces a serious capital gain tax on investment properties, then we will know they are taking a serious approach. At least 60% tax is need to stop the so called investors from sitting on heaps on houses waiting for them to go up.....probably like scott pape

Julia has not managed to pay off a mortgage of less than $140k in 12 years despite earning a very high income for that whole period (she was a partner in a law firm before entering politics), having no financial dependents and having a lot of her work expenses met.

Assuming a 20% deposit she would only have to have paid $257.93 a week at 6.45%. Assuming she borrowed the whole lot $322.41.

Either her office is lying or she is completely and utterly financially inept.