Pursuit of the Great Australian Dream -- ownership of a
stand-alone house on a quarter-acre piece of land -- has seen
households double their debt load as a proportion of disposable
income in the past 15 years to 154 percent in the quarter ended
June 30, according to central bank figures. That’s higher than
the 133 percent ratio Americans accumulated at the height of the
U.S. sub prime-mortgage boom.
...As the market sours, landed properties are losing value
faster than apartments. House prices in Australian capitals fell
4.7 percent in October compared with a year earlier, while
apartment values slipped 1.7 percent, according to Brisbane-
based RP Data.
..The Great Australian Dream isn’t gone; it’s
just a smaller dream now.”
