A few weekends ago I read an article about housing affordability in Australia in the local paper. It seems that the average family now needs a household income of over $100,000.00 to be able to afford to purchase an average house!
When I first moved here to West End, Townsville in 1998 you could pick up a three bedroom house for about $90,000. There was a three bedroom house on a quarter acre block just down the street from us on Echlin Street that the owners couldn’t sell at $87,000.
Now the average house in West End, Townsville is going for about $350,000! Last year alone the houses went up by 29% in West End. A house that in 2003 was selling for $179,000 just sold recently with a list price of $369,000.
With the cost of housing going up it is becoming more and more of a luxury to be a house owner. Tamara and I are continually counting our blessings at buying into the market when we did as we would probably not be able to enter into the market as it is now. Most of our friends, who were considering purchasing when we purchased our first house, are now pretty much priced out of the market in Townsville.
Technorati Tags: housing affordability, townsville, australia, realestate, real estate
YIKES! That is worse than Calgary!
Hi,
It is so hard now for young people to purchase a home. I was living in T’ville when houses were affordable. I was young so i didn’t buy early i didn’t think prices tripled in a few years. I had no idea that investors (mean rich people) could ruin the market for hard working young people starting out in their lives. I went to JCU and did a chemistry degree, so i had to rent. I thought that when i finish i will be able to buy my own home and not have to deal with real estate agents anymore. I was so wrong because now i cant afford a house. Prices bascically tripled, so I was better off buying before i did my degree. I’m very hurt because i will never a home, even though i am now classed as a professional chemist, its not fair why did these investors have to ruin life for people that simply want a roof over there heads.
Thanks for the comment Kylie,
My wife and I are really counting our blessings for buying when we did as now so many people can no longer afford a home.
Not too long ago it feels like you could pick up quite a few different houses for around the $150,000 mark. I remember when we were looking you could get a new house for $179,000 in Riverside Gardens, now that same house is almost $400,000. That’s in only five years…