If housing affordability means we need to buy property together, we’re also likely to live together for longer. I suspect most of the median-priced housing stock won’t go the distance. To small and/or to low quality.
We need a bigger, better boat.
And by better, I mean a Good Home: Warm, dry, low-energy, efficient design, simple.
And by bigger, I mean rooms for kids.
Can we make it affordable?
It’s time for a thought experiment:
Let’s take three friends each earning the median income. Some have children, or will have children while living together, but we’ll assume part of the picture is supporting parents to stay at home full-time, so we’ll stick with three incomes.
A person on the current median annual income can afford around $210,000 of property. So our three people can afford a $630,000 home.
For our better boat, we’ll assume a build price of $3000 per square meter.
For our bigger boat, let’s assume we can get a five-bedroom house with space for 4-5 adults and a few children into 130 square meters. A little on the small side, so we’ll need some simple(r) living practices.
The affordable Good Home costs $390,000, leaving $240,000 for a section.
Not a slam-dunk by any means, but potentially, we might be able to have Good, Affordable homes if we’re willing to share them.