Own It Archives - Life Values

Housing Market Downturn Doesn’t Provide Affordability Yet

UBS’s Australian Economics Team has recently indicated that the housing downturn may continue for an extended period. That said, it’s a stretch too far to think that housing in Australia is suddenly affordable for the hundreds of thousands of Young Australians who have been locked out of being able to buy and pay off their first home for more than a decade. Growth in any asset, including property is generally seen as a good thing by those who hold the asset. Sydney property owners have enjoyed growth of 103.3% to 112.9% over the last decade to June 2018 (Core Data1) [...]

lifevalues_admin 2018-10-31T21:36:15+11:00 October 31st, 2018|Own It|

Private School Fees or a Home Deposit?

This is the ugly financial choice parents now have to make. Australia, we’ve hit a T intersection on housing affordability. One way is the haves, the other will be the have nots. Parents now have a choice to make. Do you want your kids to have a private school education or do you want them to own a home? I’m not trying to make a comment about private versus public education. What I am saying is the choice to send your child to a private school comes at a cost. A private school education ranks only second to a house [...]

lifevalues_admin 2018-02-23T16:52:47+11:00 October 23rd, 2017|Own It|

The Debt Mouse Wheel and Australia’s Housing Affordability Dilemma

Last night’s 4 Corners ABC Broadcast on the state of housing in Australia and a possible debt bubble burst deserves a blog post. Let’s be really clear on the most important issue. Mortgage brokers, property developers and lending businesses are not financial planners or retirement specialists. This means even if they approach you, you should NEVER take financial advice from them. They are not qualified, they’ve not undertaken any training and in this respect they shouldn’t be trusted to act in your best interest. At the centre of the story was a focus on debt and its likely impact on [...]

lifevalues_admin 2018-02-23T16:58:03+11:00 August 22nd, 2017|Own It|

Housing Affordability Wake Up Call: More People Now Rent than Own Outright in Over 150 Local Government Areas

The latest 2016 Census results reveal that across Australia the number of people renting accommodation has continued to increase because successive governments at State and Federal levels have failed to address the problem. Renters now outnumber owners without a mortgage and are just behind owners with a mortgage in over 150 Local Government Areas. The trend shows that renting is the new norm and that the situation is only getting worse. Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne have the highest number of Renters compared to Owners. Local Government Area Owned outright Rented Difference Sydney 12,283 53,798 -41,515 Brisbane 108,007 148,365 -40,358 Melbourne [...]

lifevalues_admin 2018-02-23T17:05:13+11:00 August 1st, 2017|Own It|

Census confirms housing affordability crisis: Increasing number of rental households and Australians living within them, still no coordinated Government Housing Policy on the horizon

The latest 2016 Census results reveal that an increasing number of Australians are living in rental accommodation, rather than paying off or owning their own home. This phenomenon appears within every state and territory in Australia and as the table below shows, in just five short years, an extra 261,740 homes are now being rented, rather than being bought or owned outright. Rental property increases, 2011 to 2016 State or Territory Rented Properties 2011 Rented Properties 2016 Increase (Count) Increase (Percentage) Victoria 506,297 597,848 91,551 18% New South Wales 731,207 814,549 83,342 11% Queensland 508,569 560,272 51,703 10% Western Australia [...]

lifevalues_admin 2018-02-23T17:11:15+11:00 July 17th, 2017|Own It|

Insipid statistics: How housing affordability statistics hide the shameful truth about home ownership in Australia.

By Robert Snell, Certified Financial Planner and Housing Affordability Expert. Sometime ago, I can’t pin point when it actually happened, politicians, analysts and journalists changed the way they reported on housing affordability statistics. Since then it’s hard to find any commentator who believe young Australians aren’t facing a housing affordability crisis. At its most basic measure, housing affordability can be determined by the median home price in a city, for example Sydney and income. The median house price (the middle house price from lowest to highest prices, when placed in order), provides a reasonable indicator as to where the price [...]

lifevalues_admin 2018-02-23T17:18:40+11:00 June 9th, 2017|Own It|

NSW First Home Buyer Policy released. What does it mean for Gen XY and will it work?

The NSW State Government has announced its First Home Buyer Policy to help Generation X & Y buy their first home. The policy is a part of the NSW State Budget, due to be handed down on 20 June. It’s important to note that these announcements only and need to be passed by State Parliament before they apply. The Changes: Key changes for First Home Buyers 1: Abolishing all stamp duty for first homebuyers on existing and new homes up to $650,000 and stamp duty discounts up to $800,000. These changes, to be introduced on July 1 2017, will provide [...]

lifevalues_admin 2018-02-23T17:22:10+11:00 June 2nd, 2017|Own It|

The NSW State Opposition Speaks Up About The Housing Affordability Crisis

Pre-empting the NSW State Budget on June 20, the State Opposition (NSW Labor) over the weekend released their plans to tackle housing affordability for first home buyers if they win the next election (2019). Key aspects of the announcement include1: 25% of dwellings constructed on government-owned land that is being redeveloped will be designated as Affordable Housing to rent or buy; 15% of dwellings on privately-owned land rezoned for housing will be designated as Affordable Housing to rent or buy; Conduct a full audit of all publicly-owned land and create an Affordable Housing Land Register; and Refocus Urban Growth to [...]

lifevalues_admin 2018-02-23T17:27:57+11:00 May 29th, 2017|Own It|

What you didn’t know about Housing Affordability and the upcoming NSW State Budget

By Housing Affordability Expert and Certified Financial Planner®, Robert Snell. Many Young Australians and their parents have been left disappointed by the latest Federal Budget with few real measures to address housing affordability. International measures of home affordability suggest that anything above 3 times average annual earnings becomes unaffordable and Sydney is currently travelling at around 12 times and at record highs1. We all should be alarmed and angered by this. The government needs to recognise that rising home prices are not a sign of success and being to house your population is. What you may not know, is that [...]

lifevalues_admin 2018-02-23T17:32:09+11:00 May 22nd, 2017|Own It|

Housing Affordability and Budget 2017

Housing Affordability Expert, Robert Snell says the wash-up of the latest budget measures means that “After they (young people) pay their rent and their increased HECs debt, there’s not much left to save for a home deposit and that the saving scheme is a band-aid solution to the gaping wound of housing affordability." "After they pay their rent and their HECs debt, there’s not much left to save for a home deposit." "Rising HECs fees further delay the ability of young Australians to buy and pay off a home." "With fees set to rise around $1250 to $40001 for an undergraduate degree [...]

lifevalues_admin 2018-02-23T17:38:13+11:00 May 10th, 2017|Own It|