Leading baby boomer commentator David Koch told Sydney radio presenter Ben Fordham that young Sydneysiders should adjust their lavish lifestyles if they want to enjoy the same housing benefits as their parents.
David Koch:
A younger generation wants to achieve a level of lifestyle like their parents. But then when they go out on their own, they want to afford it. That’s a fair enough aspiration.
But, boomers have worked hard for what they’ve built. And what the young generation are seeing is the result of decades of hard work, investing in their house, giving things up, and building some wealth. And they’ll get there too. They’ll be in the same position having the same argument with their children.
Ben Fordham:
Will they, though? In 1983, the house price to income ratio was four. Today, the average house price in Sydney is about $1.6 million. That means the house price-to-income ratio is now 16, not four.
So, when you say they’ll have it one day as well. I’m not sure that they will?
David Koch:
It is what they want to do with their money no. I reckon my adult kids don’t have a cost-of-living issue, they have a cost-of-lifestyle issue. You’ve gotta give things up, you’ve gotta sacrifice things to build your deposit.
Back in my day, we wouldn’t go to restaurants. We’d have Trivial Pursuit nights with our friends with our fondu sets.
David Koch’s arguments are as silly as fellow boomer Bernard Salt’s statement that young Aussies couldn’t afford homes because they ate smashed avocado on toast brunches at cafes.
The fact of the matter is that Sydney dwelling values have hyper-inflated over David Koch’s lifetime, turning his generation into property millionaires:
The share of household required to service a mortgage in Sydney has rocketed:
And it will take a typical single school leaver 46 years to save a 20% deposit on a median Sydney house, according to Finder:
Saving a deposit has also become much harder due to the hyperinflation of rents, at $1,031 per week for houses and $692 a week for units across Sydney, according to SQM Research:
It’s not like young Australians aren’t sacrificing, either.
Analysis by independent economist Tarric Brooker showed that the real consumption of Australians aged under 35 was lower in 2021-22 than it was in 2003-04:
The real incomes of younger Australians are also lower today than they were in 2008:
In other words, David Koch is talking out of his rear end.
