When buying a house in Australia (esp east coast) costs 6+ times the annual family income who can afford to buy a house really ?

@Dacrowman The banks are scrambling as are the governments to 'recover' all the money spent during the 'response' to covid, hence the rapid raising of central bank interest rates this year in almost every country of the world where rates were slashed to as close to zero as governments dared without crossing into negative territory. Covid was never about people - it was always about money, control, and power for the elite.

@zonavar68 I am from Australia and money makes money, hence those owning more than one property, however it is the lack of affordable housing that is making the biggest impact. I happen to own more than one house but I have put adult children in them because they are struggling to find somewhere to live.

@Morrigan There's an interesting news article today or yesterday about 'housing affordability' which makes it clear that the term 'housing affordability' is really just a sham. Property prices here are about 50 percent over-valued. Governments both state and federal do everything they can to keep property prices over-inflated because governments and banks make money from money flows (ie. leveraging fees and charges on transactions), and cutting 50 percent of the total value of real property in Australia would wipe out pretty much all 'profit' that governments make through property transactions and the banks would effectively collapse.

@zonavar68 interesting, but i always read with a critical lens and it is far more complicated than that. The government makes quite a bit with schemes such as NRAS and landlords benefit from it as well.