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The home ladder was not broken by accident
1980
Average full-time wage: about $14,200 a year
Median home price: about $48,000
A home cost about 3.4 years of one full-time wage.
2024/25
Average full-time wage: about $106,700 a year
Median home price: about $942,000
A home now costs about 8.8 years of one full-time wage.
That is the housing crisis.
Not slogans.
Not excuses.
Not young people failing to save.
The price of a home has run away from wages.
This has already changed Australian life.
First home buyers are older. Families are forming later. Children are coming later. More couples need two full-time incomes just to compete for what one income once made possible.
If this continues, the Australia our children inherit will be unrecognisable.
The country will divide between those who already own property and those locked out of ownership.
That is not the Australian dream.
That is the loss of it.
Housing Reform Pages
First Home Buyers and Owner-Occupiers
Why first home buyers are disadvantaged when competing against investors, and how policy can level the playing field.
Investors and Negative Gearing
Why tax policy should not help investors outbid Australians trying to buy a home to live in.
Capital Gains Tax and Housing
How capital gains rules affect investors, owner-occupiers and the fairness of the housing market.
Housing Supply and Population Growth
How and why population growth, land release, planning approvals and construction must be linked.
The Social Fabric Cost
How housing failure changes marriage, children, family life, security and the future shape of Australia.
CSA Position
Public policy should help Australians buy homes to live in before it helps investors buy homes to hold.
CSA believes housing policy should be judged by real world results and consequences — not ideology, slogans or good intentions.