Housing Unaffordability and the Shift Toward Bullion

Australia’s housing market is no longer a ladder—it’s a wall. For decades, home ownership was seen as the cornerstone of wealth building. Today, that foundation has fractured, with house prices outpacing wages for over twenty years. By 2024, the median house cost nine times the average income nationally; in Sydney, it’s closer to thirteen. That’s not a housing market—it’s a fortress, locking out Australians who can no longer afford to buy. Even dual-income households face a difficult choice: mortgages that consume more than half of their take-home pay, or rents rising by as much as 20% annually in some cities. Sydney’s median rent is nearing $700 per week, while Melbourne’s has climbed past $450. A shortage of supply—over 600,000 dwellings short since 2021—continues to drive the crisis.

Policy responses offer little relief. The government’s promise of 1.2 million new homes by 2029 is undermined by falling construction approvals and soaring costs. In Victoria, planning delays for apartments can stretch up to two years. The pipeline is broken, and the gap widens each quarter. Meanwhile, Canberra has every incentive to keep housing prices high: rising values fuel consumer spending, inflate state stamp duty revenues, and deliver capital gains for the Commonwealth. Banks—whose loan books are 60% mortgages—rely on it for balance sheet stability.

For everyday Australians, options are dwindling. Saving a deposit becomes harder as prices rise faster than incomes. Renting offers little reprieve, with vacancy rates below 1% in major cities. Even so-called affordability schemes like first-home buyer grants often serve to push prices higher. The system is structured to protect existing homeowners, governments, and banks—at the expense of new entrants.

In this environment, gold and silver are regaining relevance. When a generation is locked out of property, they begin to seek alternative paths to build and preserve wealth. Bullion offers what real estate increasingly cannot: accessibility, liquidity, and freedom from political interference. It carries no stamp duty, requires no council approvals, and avoids the risks of rezoning or regulatory capture. It is scarce, tangible, and sits outside the leverage of the banking system.

A shift in psychology is underway. Where Australians once saw the family home as their anchor asset, more are now viewing bullion as a viable hedge—not just against inflation, but against exclusion. If the property ladder has been pulled up, gold and silver offer another way forward.

Australia’s housing market may remain a pressure point for years to come. But in the cracks of a broken system lies a time-tested refuge. For investors—especially those shut out of bricks and mortar—the safe haven is bullion.