It’s no secret that Aussies love owning property. Interest rates, property values, latest sales, investment tips and hot spots are often favourite topics of conversation at social events. You could say that we’re a little obsessed.
The two key factors that make property ownership so valued to us are:
1. wealth accumulation and
2. security.
Our obsession makes sense, if that’s what we’re going to gain, doesn’t it!
According to the RBA, as of September 2022, 57% of household wealth is held in housing, despite the recent falls in property values. That’s a big percentage of our wealth – but given the price of housing around the country, it’s probably not surprising.
Property values have far outstripped wages growth over the past 20 years, with national growth in home values sitting at around 140%. In contrast, the national wage price index has increased 81.5% in the same period.
Whilst most of us have witnessed a volatile stock market during our lifetime with the GFC and Covid, the property market seems like easier work and a safer bet. Easier because, for most of us, we just buy a house and sit back and wait for the value to increase, whilst with the stock market, to get the most out of it, you need to be a more active player, watching the market and buying and selling at the right times. Safer, because the “downs” tend to be small recoveries or corrections rather than crashes.
The hard part is getting your foot on the property ladder. Once you’re in, you’ve got a whole lot of options. You can either sit and enjoy, continually upgrade as your needs change or your family grows or you can leverage your home to buy investment properties.
The secret is to find a way to buy that house, and that’s where we would love to help!
