Pouring the savings of an entire nation into the housing market creates destructive effects at the macro scale that make our cities worse today and unliveable tomorrow.
I just discovered your site, so first off, I love it and am happily subscribed and reading more!!
This one struck a particular nerve with me because I was reading through a particularly frustrating (but not unsurprising) thread on Reddit where the unpopular opinion was that they liked renting more than buying. The comments were 70% "you're an idiot a home is an investment you're throwing your money away" and 25% doom of a generation priced out, and the tiny remainder talking sense, that in many circumstances this is true. Financial arguments were good there (index fund with better returns, not considering full costs, etc). But it was frustrating to see this just completely missed by most. The pressure that is put on by everyone around you that anything other than buying a home means you are a failure and will die in poverty, is just perpetuating this cycle and making it worse for everyone. I'm not sure if the analogy works, but it's perhaps like how everyone here (US) must have a car payment and drive a $50k truck - because you're at worse a loser and at best putting your family's lives at risk if you do anything less.
Regardless, you said it far better than I, but I just wanted to say I appreciate it all!!
Hey Riley love you article and insight on the housing market in Australia. Perhaps there is a path that can deliver the missing middle within this chaos otherwise known as the Australian housing market.
100% agree with your article. The other thing to add to this mix is Australias addiction to BIG houses… again, the Swiss and others do it better with higher quality, smaller housing…
I just discovered your site, so first off, I love it and am happily subscribed and reading more!!
This one struck a particular nerve with me because I was reading through a particularly frustrating (but not unsurprising) thread on Reddit where the unpopular opinion was that they liked renting more than buying. The comments were 70% "you're an idiot a home is an investment you're throwing your money away" and 25% doom of a generation priced out, and the tiny remainder talking sense, that in many circumstances this is true. Financial arguments were good there (index fund with better returns, not considering full costs, etc). But it was frustrating to see this just completely missed by most. The pressure that is put on by everyone around you that anything other than buying a home means you are a failure and will die in poverty, is just perpetuating this cycle and making it worse for everyone. I'm not sure if the analogy works, but it's perhaps like how everyone here (US) must have a car payment and drive a $50k truck - because you're at worse a loser and at best putting your family's lives at risk if you do anything less.
Regardless, you said it far better than I, but I just wanted to say I appreciate it all!!
Hey Riley love you article and insight on the housing market in Australia. Perhaps there is a path that can deliver the missing middle within this chaos otherwise known as the Australian housing market.
100% agree with your article. The other thing to add to this mix is Australias addiction to BIG houses… again, the Swiss and others do it better with higher quality, smaller housing…