A young Australian has branded the country’s housing crisis as “absolutely ridiculous” after receiving a flyer from a real estate agency showing typical properties all selling for more than $1 million.
Matt, a 19-year-old from Sydney, expressed his frustration at the state of the Australian property market after seeing the flyer, which highlighted the 53 homes sold in October.
The properties were located in suburbs about an hour west of Sydney’s CBD, including Quakers Hill, Box Hill, Blacktown and Riverstone.
“I honestly can’t believe some of these property prices anymore,” Matt explained in a video shared on social media.
“Sydney has such a problem it’s not even funny anymore, look at these numbers.
‘Please note that we are talking about areas that are an hour away from Sydney’s CBD.
‘How should I move? How should I buy a house?’ the young Australian asked bluntly.
Matt highlighted one property which he said ‘didn’t look too bad’, but warned his viewers not to be fooled as it was in Box Hill, a suburb where he refused to live.
Matt, 19, received a newsletter of properties selling in October and was stunned by the staggering prices – all of which sold for more than $1 million in a suburb about an hour west of Sydney
“Look here, a one-story, $1.5 million house in Quakers Hill. This is really ridiculous. $1.4 million in Blacktown,” Matt said.
In another video, Matt walked through a townhouse complex in Western Sydney and said it made him “extremely sad.”
The teenager said he understood Sydney needed more housing, but criticized the developer for “cramming” as many houses as possible on the site.
‘No front gardens and every house is literally copy and pasted. I know Sydney needs the houses more than anything, but we could have given things like front gardens,” Matt said.
“The craziest thing is that each of these houses is probably worth over a million dollars.”
Social media users agreed with the young Australian, with many claiming the country’s property market was ridiculous.
“Our children will never have the chance to live in their own home, this country is a joke,” said one.
“A house in our suburb just sold for $2.6 million; we are 22 km from the CBD. It’s a joke,” a second added.
The teenager branded the Australian property market as ‘ridiculous’ and wondered if he would ever be able to afford a house in Sydney
‘In Sydney you have to earn $200,000 a year to pay the mortgage, whether you are as a couple or alone. So either everyone has to become CEO, or be a couple with no children, two good jobs and no fun for 30 years,” a third person added.
A fourth said: ‘It’s insane. I live not far from there and was able to make a purchase three years ago. The house increased by a third of what I paid for it. It is not sustainable and first home buyers have no chance.”
Other Aussies advised Matt to save his money and use it to buy an apartment in an area further away from the city, for his first real estate purchase.
‘Save, save and save. Like everyone else. Do you really think you should be able to outbid a family that has been working/saving for 30 years,” one person said.
‘I have to start with a unit. Don’t think anyone will immediately buy a house without mom and dad’s couch,” added a second.
‘You have to buy an apartment first, build up assets and save more money, and then buy a house. Even in Newcastle we had to do that,” a third person wrote.
According to data from SQM Research, the average asking price for homes across the country rose 0.9 percent in the month of October.
House asking prices in all capital cities recorded an increase of 1.3 per cent, leading to an average of more than $1.41 million for a house.
Data showed house prices in Sydney increased by 1.4 per cent, with homes selling for an average of $1.95 million
In Sydney, house prices recorded a 1.4 per cent increase, with homes selling for an average of $1.95 million.
The Melbourne market remained stable, with house prices rising 0.4 per cent – an average of around $1.25 million – while Adelaide saw a decline of 0.9 per cent, with the average house price reaching $946,363.
Hobart, Brisbane and Canberra all recorded a one per cent increase in house prices, with homes in Hobart selling for an average of $805,052 and $1.18 million in both Brisbane and Canberra.
Meanwhile, Perth saw the highest increase in house prices, up 1.5 per cent, with properties selling for an average of $1.09 million.
House prices in Darwin increased by 2.6 per cent, but remained at the lowest average at $687,272.