The median house price in Sydney is around $1.3 million; units / flats around $800 000. The average mortgage is $750 000 - I think it's come down. Many people pay upwards of $1000 pw to rent a house. Basic food items in the supermarkets are getting ridiculously expensive.
From what I can gauge spiralling price hikes are a world-wide phenomenon. More & more homelessness. More people relying on charity. Why have governments across so many countries failed so miserably to maintain an affordable standard of living.
It seems to me with housing in Australia, governments on both sides of the fence have done nothing to curb overseas investment. The massive Chinese middleclass are allowed to snap up property at exuberant prices - pushing lower paid locals out of the market. Furthermore, not enough land has been developed to keep up with population growth - and so demand is greater than supply.
20 years ago most people could afford property without drowning in debt. Those days are long gone.
