The pathway to home ownership is not as simple as it used to be, and it's not the fault of younger workers, writes Gareth Hutchens.

Key excerpt:

According to the late professor Patrick Troy, here's how things were viewed in the early 1970s:

"The cost and price of housing continued to be a source of social and political concern. Over the period 1969-1973 the number of years' average earnings required to buy a house site increased substantially. In Sydney, it increased from 1.7 to 2.7 years, while in Melbourne it grew from 1.2 to 1.8 years."

Compare that to what modern researchers have to say about Australia in 2023:

"Since 2001, the national ratio of median house price to median income has almost doubled to 8.5, and the time required for the accumulation of a deposit for a typical property has increased from six years median earnings in 1994 to 14 years currently."