eter Ryan doesn’t have a credit card. He owns his caroutright with no loan, and has worked long-term in stable employment in the public service, while boasting a household income comfortably above the national average.
Historically, those pressured to sell their family home have experienced a major event such as a health issue or job loss. Now, it’s theRyan says after mortgage repayments and bills are met he has just under $300 a fortnight left for discretionary spending, roughly the same amount he had more than a decade ago. In that time, however, the cost of everything else, such as a movie ticket or restaurant meal, has rocketed.
Nicholas Gruen, chief executive at Lateral Economics, says Australia should be looking at alternative policies, although he warns they aren’t necessarily pain-free. Often politicians don’t have the stomach for them, he adds. In the meantime, the more than one-third of Australian households that own their own home, with a mortgage, will bear the brunt of the inflation fight as their ability to consume is stripped away.
“People are desperately trying to hold on to their home because they don’t see an option to easily move into a rental property,” Tonkin says. “That’s just not a sure bet any more, and that’s contributing to a lot of stress, emotional, financial and psychological.