Many home owners are now asking themselves the question whether it is worth the extra $410 per week to own their own home that is dropping in value. Auction clearance rates are a re very good indicator of whether home prices are increasing or decreasing. It was only a few years back that every week-end all properties were being sold at auction for ever increasing prices. In August 2008 RP Data reported that auction clearance rates in Brisbane 29% Sydney 44% Melbourne 61% and Perth 17%. Many families who have stretched their budgets to the limit and have borrowed the maximum now find that their mortgage is more than their home is worth. The worst part is that some families who are faced with sickness or accidents happening to a family member or worse still one member losing their job, are at their wits end to know what to do since they become stressed and have no one to turn to.

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The fact is the housing affordability in Australia is a problem that needs to be dealt swiftly yet in a careful and planned manner. Compare it to dealing with any chronic illness. The approach must be control the spread of the problem and its elimination, both at a rapid pace.

Brisbane’s property market is reeling under a slew of unfavorable conditions. The prices are already very high and BIS Shrapnel has declared that South East Queensland would see the rise in prices of residential properties by as much as 22% in a very short span of mere three years. The market spirit has dampened further by this information. Steve Greenwood of Property Council of Australia has more to add. According to him in the coming years rental rates of the property are expected to go still higher. He further informs that not only have the prices increased in the past years, the trend shows signs of getting stronger in the coming years.

This means that people who were looking forward to purchase property in Brisbane might have a hard time ahead. Brisbane city budget has not been very helpful either. In fact according to a number of experts in the real estate sector, it is because of the increase in rates declared in the city budget that rental prices would experience the skyrocketing trends.

In the past the rate calculation was done on the same basis, be it a house or an apartment. This was done using a fixed dollar rate and the unimproved value of the land. The apartments got lower rates primarily due to the fact that a number of apartments stood on the same piece of land and the owners of apartment had to share it. Come 2009 and the things would be different. The owner occupied properties would now be rated according to a parity factor. This parity factor takes both the value of the land and the value of apartment into account and thus drives the rates higher.

Dan Molloy of Real Estate Institute of Queensland has warned people who have apartments closer to CBD. They would be the hardest hit by this new system because their property has considerable value. Brisbane Labor Councillor David Hinchcliffe says that in some cases an increase of 700% may be noticed. On the other hand Lord Mayor Campbell Newman refutes such estimates. He informs that while significant increase would take place, it would not be higher than 150 to 160% In the worst case he says that increase would still not be more than 300%.

Greenwood says that property investors who have rented out their investment units would forward the burden in the form if higher rents to the tenants. On the other hand Newman says that increasing the rent substantially with the increase of rates would be a risky step. He says it is neither fair nor justified. Molloy is also worried that this would mean more pressure for a market that is already reeling under pressure from other sources. Molloy says that vacancy rates are at an all time low.

Greenwood also holds the rise in property costs responsible for this. It is simple economics. People can not buy homes so the demand for rentals is high. At the same time, the same factor is also responsible for shortage of supply. Greenwood also recommends the unlocking of more land so that the prices can be brought under control and for market to avoid getting in a condition where it might be facing a total collapse.

The entire city of Canberra is buzzing with the upcoming 2020 summit. Delegates from a number of countries are flying in and speakers are preparing to present their views and those of the organizations they represent on a number of issues. One of the issues to be taken up in the summit is the housing problem in Australia and in other parts of the world. The developed country that Australia is, it is suffering from an acute problem of shortage of affordable housing opportunities. Mortgages and property tax have become a pain and housing rental sector is reeling under pressure.

Tim Costello, the head of World Vision has decided to take up the matter himself. He has noticed that the housing sector of Australia is under a lot of pressure due to a number of unplanned and under-planned policies which were implemented by the Federal government, the various state governments and different local government bodies in various parts of the country. The taxation is so high in the property sector that the people feel as if they are virtually denied by the state of their basic human right to have a place they can call a home.

Mr. Costello has taken up the mantle to promote the up and coming rent to buy schemes. The country’s policies have driven mortgage rates too high. An increase in the overall cost of living has had its own role to play in the game and a noxious scenario has arisen out of the entire thing. Costello pleads that the governance bodies of the country make such policies as are favorable to the rent-to-buy schemes. The demand is to bring such legislation that encourages banking organizations across the continent to take this new business model seriously. It is a must to harness its potential for solving the affordable housing problem that Australia is facing.

There are number of recommendations that Costello would like to make. He proposes that these measures would improve the housing equity. Such policies are to be very helpful for the young people who are paying dead money in the form of rent. With these rent-to-buy business model thoroughly entrenched in the Australian real estate sector, owning a home would become a realizable dream for most of the people in Australia. Costello is very hopeful about the success of such a policy and feels that it shall be a great step in developing overall potential of the country.

Tim Costello also warns that as of now there is wide chasm in the housing sector. There are the renters who are paying money in the form of rent and then there are people who own the titles of said property. Costello urges that this chasm needs to be bridged. He says that a number of people want to buy their homes which is difficult in the present scenario. Costello assures that if the governance bodies take appropriate measures, it would not be difficult for the young generation to actually own their homes.