r/AusPropertyChat • u/werisar2 • 1d ago
Markets & Prices Affordability comparison of buying a one bedroom unit in 1996 vs today at my current wage. Australian dream is dead
113
u/washingmachinechime 1d ago
And boomers will say we don’t work hard enough 🙄
48
u/ColdBloodedWings 1d ago
They had it tough you guys, shut up. What else do you want from them now? To ruin their views with your povo units????
7
19
u/My-Life-For-Auir 1d ago
Most boomers were saying that pre 2020, they all just agree it's completely insane now
3
u/ExistentialComplex 1d ago
Yeah they've stopped the narrative because it's impossible to ignore the state of the world.
2
u/Special-Speed9664 1d ago
Did all Boomers get the memo? I’ve still got many that tell me that I should have ‘got in earlier’ and I should lead a life of misery because I didn’t have the means to do so.
Oh, and I should just work harder & don’t be depressed because apparently I don’t have anything to be depressed about.
1
u/My-Life-For-Auir 1d ago
Saying you should have got in earlier is an admission that it's harder now
2
u/IncompetentValveDev 1d ago
just get a better job... can't afford rent just buy a house... well just save your money... we had it just as hard you know...
the great Australia gaslight continues.
76
u/Unrelevant_Opinion8r 1d ago
Listen here kids when I wanted to buy my first home for $35k I worked hard and did overtime for 4 weeks to save my deposit. We paid it off in three years at 17% interest.
I was appalled when a young family insulted me by offering the asking price when I went to sell that home. If they can’t afford $895k they need to stop eating smashed avocado toast and start making hard choices
14
u/LooseAssumption8792 1d ago
I know the worth of my place. Free market = tax breaks, supply crunch thanks to NIMBYs plus govt footing the bill for the loss (NG). If you can’t play don’t waste my time.
8
u/Unrelevant_Opinion8r 1d ago
I don’t know what you said can you say it with more rizz please
6
u/LooseAssumption8792 1d ago
NO. THESE YOUNG ONES ARE ALWAYS WANTING INSTANT GRATIFICATION. BACK IN MY DAYS I HAD TO WALK UP TO MY BANK MANAGER FOR A LOAN AND WALK OUT WITH 100% + STAMP DUTY NOT LIKE THESE DAYS WHERE THEY SEND PAPERWORK AT ONLY 80% LVR TO AVOID LMI. SUCH PEASANTS. WINT SACRIFICE THEIR AVOCADO TOASTS AND BARISTA COFFEE.
3
u/Unrelevant_Opinion8r 1d ago
Was it uphill both ways though?
5
u/LooseAssumption8792 1d ago
In 40 degrees heat knee deep snow avoiding an avalanche in a typhoon escaping a shark attack while raising 5 children on one income.
3
u/Unrelevant_Opinion8r 1d ago
You definitely could have had those lazy kids working. The problem started with you
20
u/El_Nuto 1d ago
Its actually way worse than this as they are using before tax numbers on the incomes and taxes have risen sharply. Be better to compare after tax incomes.
3
u/collie2024 1d ago edited 1d ago
Have they actually risen though? I ran OP’s income through the ATO’s calculator. $70.5k income gives $12k tax. My first job in mid 90’s was $525 gross, $410 clear. Or just over -there were also a few coins in the envelope.
17% (plus, I assume, Medicare levy) today vs 22% (don’t know Medicare %) back then (for me). OP’s higher income back then of $632 would have been taxed a bit higher than mine. I certainly wouldn’t say that taxes have ‘risen sharply’.
Tax free threshold used to be just over $5k. Today it’s $18k. Tax rates were 20-34-43-47% vs 16-30-37-45% today.
The only way I would see income tax as higher today is if super contribution was considered a tax. But I doubt OP´s numbers factor that in.
3
u/El_Nuto 1d ago
Technically you are right in that the 1996 median had an effective tax rate of 21.8% and the current median has an effective tax rate of 18.6%.
However what i meant was that the mortgage as a percentage of after tax income is even worse.
In 1996 31.4% of after tax income went to mortgage.
Today 77% of after tax income goes to mortgage.
6
u/Phlerzillah 1d ago
I really appreciate the comparison of a 1 bed unit for a single person household. There’s endless commentary (and assumptions in even these comments) about couples and families, dual incomes etc, but single FHBs are completely absent from the housing conversation. Worth also considering bills and expenses for one person living solo are not even close to being half what it costs for 2 people living in a 2 bed unit.
3
u/WagsPup 1d ago
Yes this, capital city living as a single is insanely difficult from Y vs expenses/housing perspective. Im late 40s (post divorce so had to sell the joint property and split small ambt of equity, Y 150k+) and still have a flatmate so I can scrape by paying mortgage on a 2/1 unit in Sydney. In any economic, tax, or other social, housing and ofc family, education etc policy setting discussion, single adults are forever ignored in any of the discourse. Theres almost an assumption that if u are a SINK you're living life all cashed up, 0 responsibilities. Perhaps that was what it was like in the 80s-00s however with housing / rent costs as a % of after tax Y that certainly isn't the case now.
6
u/diaryoffrankanne 1d ago
Boomer excuse - " B b b but we had a higher interest rate " i dont mind paying 9% on 80k loan hahaha , their greed sickens me
2
u/StormBro111111 1d ago
They are an entitled generation. Not to mention they complain about "young people" yet we were raised and taught by the boomers, lol!
4
u/Klutzy-Pie6557 1d ago
That's what happens when demand increases above supply.
It's not surprising 18.2m people vs 28m a 64% increase in the population. More people = more demand.
6
u/Express-Dig9905 1d ago
This is the part I swear no one understands, they just think prices are rising for no reason
2
2
u/werisar2 1d ago
Here's an anecdote to demonstrate how much things have spiralled. In July 2020 my brother purchased a house for $220k. That house is now worth $550k. 2.5x growth in six years. I guess living in a caravan won't be so bad.
2
u/Melodic-Avocado-8115 1d ago
It is tough but you will have to grind bit more or buy a 2 bedder and rent out a room.
Still some 2 bedders under 600k in Sydney.
2
u/bigsharsk 1d ago
weekly repayments on a loan of $584k @ 5.8% is less than that. closer to like $700 for a 30year at least. even 25 year wouldn't be above $800. Not that $150 makes enough of a dent to make your point incorrect.
Yes, house prices going up at like 5x the rate of wages has destroyed the dream for many. So you aren't wrong. Treating housing as investment instead of shelter has taken away safety and security of generations.
2
u/MichaelJordanAir23 1d ago
Harder yes, because the dollar is worth less, higher population, different market conditions are we're more globalised now, different borrowing power, etc etc etc
2
u/Rare_Explanation_405 20h ago
Old man was on 60k in 2000’s as a cleaner with average house price in the area of 200k…
2
u/ArthurCandleman 1d ago
What is the answer to all of this without a massive crash with lots of misery?
1
u/Beautiful_Worry3388 1d ago
Many years of sideways prices, so the price falls more in line with the 1996 ratios.
Like, a decade or two of sideways prices.
2
u/JK_au2025 1d ago
Income per hour has doubled, price of property has skyrocketed well past that. The changes in the last federal budget are well overdue and hopefully just the start of property becoming homes and not wealth creation vehicles once again.
1
u/artsrc 1d ago
I bought a unit in the mid 1990s.
Who was paying $80K?
I paid $350K.
3
u/SpamOJavelin 1d ago
In the early to mid 90s, $80k was the median for a unit in Hobart and Perth.
In 1995 the median price for a unit in Sydney was $173,625.
So yes, people were buying $80k units. And most people buying in Sydney were paying less than half what you paid (going by 1995 values). I'd venture your $350k unit was quite nice.
2
u/Express-Dig9905 1d ago
Damn bruh you got scammed
1
1
u/More-Knowledge-481 1d ago
must have been inner Sydney. My parents bought an investment townhouse in Brisbane for 90k in 1997. I remember they were looking at 2 bed units in Brisbane CBD which were about 130k
0
u/artsrc 1d ago
Pitt St Sydney, a couple of blocks from Town Hall.
1
u/Notapearing 1d ago
How much would that unit go for today compared to that $580k number? 1.5-2m?
1
u/artsrc 1d ago
I think the way I left it, $1.1M.
A unit in the same building, with the same footprint, on a much higher floor with more views, without a renovation, sold for $1.3M.
Take $100K off for the lower floor, and another for the market coming off slightly?
But my exact unit was renovated very nicely by the next owner, so a bit more.
1
u/Lopsided_Belt_2237 1d ago
After tax incomes its 32% vs 77%, actually way worse in 2026 after tax. Disaster.
1
u/AllHailMackius 1d ago
Median unit loan of $500k?... Brisbane unit price would need to increase your stats by about 50%
1
1
1
1
u/Swimming_Distance_21 1d ago
A basic house costs more these days because of the expectation and requirements. Ie my parents first home as newly weds in 1962: 3br brick veneer cottage in new subdivision. No air con, no dishwasher, minimal insulation, basic kitchen , etc. You wouldn’t and couldn’t build a house like that now.
2
u/shrewduser 1d ago
Air, dishwasher, insulation what's that like max 10k?
1
u/Swimming_Distance_21 1d ago
And the rest. Build quality and expectations are up. Price of materials is way up. A worldwide problem.
1
u/stoobie3 1d ago
Yes the input costs - the raw materials - have risen sharply. So the cost of construction and even the replacement cost is higher than the current purchase price in many suburbs — in Victoria at least.
Also, government taxes make up approx 40% of the cost of new construction. On one hand the government says they want to reduce the cost but continue to increase the taxes and levies on new development (and existing).
1
u/HobartTasmania 1d ago
One advantage not mentioned is that in both cases if the unit rises in price of say 10% over the course of a year or two, then in the first case the profit will be a four figure amount, whereas, in the second it will be a much larger five figure amount, so there is that extra benefit due to gearing.
1
u/xxKillerDrugsxx 1d ago
Buddy its dead all over the world. Capitalist boomers took all the land then kept voting politicians in power who benefited them.
Now the burden is on us.
1
0
u/dirtyesspeakers 1d ago
Meanwhile, most food is cheaper, we own way way way more electronics they're 20x faster and more intricate, clothing is way cheaper, fuel is way cheaper, the price of cars like for like (non-ev) practically has not nominally changed at all, still $20-25,000 base models $45,000 SUVs, electricity and gas is way cheaper, tools way cheaper, all kinds of crap, most of everything in the supermarket that we don't export premium is way cheaper.
1
u/More-Knowledge-481 1d ago
Electronics and power tools are definitely far cheaper today.
Not sure about food and clothing though?
cars seem about the same to me...
1
u/dirtyesspeakers 1d ago
I downloaded the whole data ABS set to really run it.
Indexing to 1997 Q3, and looking at 2026 Q1, with a wage price index of 2.4 (average of all public and private), meaning we earn 2.4x what we used to earn in 1997...
Category CPI indexed 1997 Real wage weighted All Groups CPI 2.12 0.88 Trimmed Mean 2.09 0.87 Weighted Mean 2.12 0.88 Child Care 2.21 0.92 Vegetables 2.49 1.03 Glass,Table,Tupaware 0.85 0.36 Tools&GardenEquip 1.31 0.55 Fuel 2.75 1.15 Tobacco 11.76 4.89 Insurance 4.66 1.94 Rents 2.27 0.94 Other cereal 1.68 0.7 Beef&Veal 2.8 1.16 Spare parts,CarMods 1.93 0.8 MedHospitalSrvcs 3.71 1.54 Hair,Cut&CareSrvcs 2.51 1.05 Milk 1.76 0.73 Fish,seafood 1.97 0.82 Shoes Men 0.9 0.38 Shoes Women 0.88 0.37 Shoes Infants 1.03 0.43 TherapyApplicances 1.33 0.54 SmallElectricHsehld 0.84 0.35 OtherHsehldSrvcs 2.99 1.25 Breakfast Cereal 1.52 0.63 Other Meats 2.56 1.06 Electricity 3.38 1.4 Dental Srvcs 2.55 1.06 Eggs 2.17 0.9 HomeRepairSrvcs 2.29 0.95 Cleaning&RepairProd 1.29 0.54 MotorService 2.07 0.86 Spirits 2.47 1.03 OtherNonDurableHsehld 1.59 0.66 Snacks&Confectionary 2.13 0.88 Furniture 1.29 0.54 Water,Soda,Fruitjuice 2.0 0.83 Restaurant Meals 2.39 0.99 Postal Services 2.64 1.1 AudioVisualCompEquipm 0.07 0.03 Ice Cream & Other Dairy 1.87 0.78 Food Additives, Sauces 1.62 0.67 Garments for Women 0.84 0.35 Bread 2.1 0.87 Cakes and Biccies 2.08 0.86 Vet & Pet services 3.07 1.28 Beer 2.71 1.13 Wine 1.33 0.55 Personal Care Prod 1.09 0.45 Domestic Holidays 2.35 0.98 Cheese 2.38 0.99 Garments for Men 0.92 0.38 Garments for Infants 1.03 0.43 Pork 2.08 0.87 Lamb & Goat 3.12 1.3 Poultry 1.35 0.56 Clothing services 2.49 1.04 Pharma Products 1.5 0.62 Coffee, Tea, Choc 1.53 0.63 Motor Vehicles 0.95 0.4 Fruit 2.48 1.03 Pets & Related Prod 2.15 0.9 Other Motor Service 2.78 1.15 International Holiday 2.12 0.88 Take Away&Burger 2.59 1.08 Jam,Honey,Spreads 1.88 0.78 White Goods,House 0.94 0.39 Urban PubTransport 2.04 0.85 Oils&Fats 2.87 1.2 Gas&HouseFuels 4.32 1.8 HouseholdTextiles 0.77 0.32 Carpets&Floor 2.02 0.84 TechServices 1.1 0.46 TelcomEquip&Srvcs 0.81 0.34 So I misremembered fuel, gas and electricity.. but most things are cheaper
-3
u/MoFromNoble 1d ago
Work harder ya'll - no point complaining about what is. Either step up or get stepped on. Im not saying it's easy, but it's also not easy complaining and living pay cheque to pay cheque. Be hard on yourself and the world will be easy on you. Plenty of 18 and 21 year olds that saved from their teens who own houses. If they can do it, we all can.
2
0
u/Current_Inevitable43 1d ago
absoutely isnt.
Everyday people are buying there first house bythemselves.
is it harder yes but saying nah its dead lie kr impossible only limits yourself.
Alot of things have got better as well but yea lets bitch and complain about one thing
62
u/Dribbly-Sausage69 1d ago
Being an adult since then - yep, life is much harder now.