Great job, good education, no home: is Australia’s bloated property market destroying the middle class?
A fresh cycle of interest rate cuts have propelled house prices in capital cities to peak levels – locking new buyers out of the market
R oss Hamilton spends his work days in a laboratory developing treatments for fibrosis. At home, he sets aside as much time as possible to be with his partner, their four-year-old daughter and their baby boy, who was born just a few weeks ago.
The 43-year-old is well educated, works in a cutting-edge industry and is part of a dual-income household. But despite this, the couple cannot afford a family home anywhere near his Sydney workplace or prospective schools as property prices increase at a faster pace than the family can save for a deposit.
“It’s just capitalism gone crazy. A house is no longer a domicile. It’s an investment, and it’s pushed people out who just happened to be born later. That’s all it is,” says Hamilton.
“There’s a huge population now that had a bit of wealth years ago, and they bought property, and then it’s gone up dramatically since then.
