Kochie silences Boomer housing myth
Sunrise’s David Koch has set the facts straight for Baby Boomers across Australia, putting an end to the popular notion that it’s laziness and greed preventing younger generations from getting their foot in the housing market.
In a bid to prove his point, the TV host analysed each contributing factor, and broke down the various obstacles between buying a house in the late 1980s and buying one in 2023.
“Back in my day,” Kochie began his segment, imitating a popular line utilised by Boomers when launching their arguments, “I was paying 17 per cent on my home loan. Now that was tough.”
“Alright, hands up who has said that or been told that at a family get together recently,” he continued. “So, is that grumpy oldie right or wrong? These are the facts.”
From there, he went on to explain that at a surface level, the answer seems obvious, and in favour of the older generations. Home loan rates reached 17% in 1989, while a variable loan is just 6% in 2023.
However, a deeper dive into the matter soon revealed the concerning truth. While the average cost of a house was $70,000 in the 1980s, that number had multiplied by 10 in 2023, coming in at $700,000.
“A 20% deposit has gone from $14,000 to $140,000,” Kochie added, before explaining that the issues kept coming from there, as “wages have not kept pace. 40 years ago, the average person was earning $19,000, now it’s closer to $90,000.”
And, as news.com.au had previously reported, Australian wages basically had not budged in the decade leading up to 2023.
“So, in the ‘80s, the price of a house was four times the average person’s income,” Kochie surmised. “In 2023, it’s 8 times the average Aussie salary.
“The bottom line is that today’s 6% mortgage rate is causing the same financial pain as that grumpy old oldie’s 17% in the 1980s, and with rates set to go higher, it has never been tougher to meet a mortgage. So hopefully, that puts that myth aside.”
And while many were glad to see someone finally telling it as it was, others believed that the situation may actually still be worse than Kochie had outlined.
As one TikTok user put it, “if they use[d] the real average wage of $60,000 and not $90,000 it just gets even worse.”
“Either I’m not getting paid enough or the average is closer to $60k pa,” one agreed.
“Don’t forget they also had 20% interest on their savings accounts,” a digital marketer contributed.
“Finally Kochie did something right,” another user wrote, “and broke it down in layman’s terms for the Boomers.”
And as another said, “thanks for doing the research! I’m saving this video for EVERY CHANCE I CAN GET when someone tells me ‘it was harder in my day’.”
Images: Sunrise / Seven