houses are for living in - as the former Lab Govt's were well aware (it was stated policy).....
sadly - we as a society, have turned it into just another financial asset class.......with, essentially, tax payer funded subsidies - that DO NOT encourage the building of new hooms...
just imagine - if global interest rates got to 10-12% .......
Very useful article. Great to have the historical perspective. Loved this quote: "You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take."
So in 1979 we borrowed from the bank to buy a block on the beach for $3,180 and $11,000 from a building society to build the home that we moved into a week after we were married. Such was the rate of wage inflation at that time that we paid these loans off in eight years proceeding to sell the house for $45,000 in 1978. You have to be in it to win it. Of course it was a favoured location and the population of the area is doubling every twenty years.
In retrospect we should have been borrowing to buy property when interest rates were 3-4%.
Really interesting read Tarrick. I spent most of my 20s waiting, hoping the government would step in and make housing more accessible but nothing happened.
Eventually I realised no one was coming to fix it. That was the wake up call. I bought in my 30s, not because the system got better, but because I stopped waiting for it to change.
So my question is what do you want readers to take away from this? You've laid out the history really well, but if the message is that governments won’t act, shouldn’t there be more than just reflection?
Maybe the conversation needs to shift toward how people can adapt. Whether that means buying differently, looking offshore, or just changing mindset. Sitting in paralysis as I did is still a decision and often not a helpful one.
Good article Tarrick. I was only trying to find the same ownership chart this morning. I think we’ve lost many of our post WW2 gains.
solid article, well researched !!
houses are for living in - as the former Lab Govt's were well aware (it was stated policy).....
sadly - we as a society, have turned it into just another financial asset class.......with, essentially, tax payer funded subsidies - that DO NOT encourage the building of new hooms...
just imagine - if global interest rates got to 10-12% .......
Very useful article. Great to have the historical perspective. Loved this quote: "You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take."
So in 1979 we borrowed from the bank to buy a block on the beach for $3,180 and $11,000 from a building society to build the home that we moved into a week after we were married. Such was the rate of wage inflation at that time that we paid these loans off in eight years proceeding to sell the house for $45,000 in 1978. You have to be in it to win it. Of course it was a favoured location and the population of the area is doubling every twenty years.
In retrospect we should have been borrowing to buy property when interest rates were 3-4%.
Really interesting read Tarrick. I spent most of my 20s waiting, hoping the government would step in and make housing more accessible but nothing happened.
Eventually I realised no one was coming to fix it. That was the wake up call. I bought in my 30s, not because the system got better, but because I stopped waiting for it to change.
So my question is what do you want readers to take away from this? You've laid out the history really well, but if the message is that governments won’t act, shouldn’t there be more than just reflection?
Maybe the conversation needs to shift toward how people can adapt. Whether that means buying differently, looking offshore, or just changing mindset. Sitting in paralysis as I did is still a decision and often not a helpful one.