Yes every generation requires sacrifices to get ahead. But you...

Yes every generation requires sacrifices to get ahead. But you are still trying to paint today's youth as frivolous spenders.

I don't know a single person under the age of 50 who has foxtel. Likewise no-one i know has mobile data on a tablet, no-one, you use Wi-Fi where possible and download movies for when you don't have Wi-Fi. Counting internet and air conditioning costs as "consumerist spending", as though your generation didn't spend money on them as a choice. No, you just didn't have the option. That's like saying people in the 80's were consumerist for having a fridge.

Even if these costs were valid you're talking about $600 a month. That's $7,200 a year savings to live like a hermit with no phone, internet or air-con. Big whoop. Do you not realize how much house prices in Sydney and Melbourne have been increasing every year? That $7K per annum wouldn't even keep up with the annual increases in the required minimum deposit.
Meanwhile your 5% deposit was equivalent of 5 months wages. Apples and oranges.
Also interest rates were at 17% for all of one year, if you bought your house at the record high interest rates of course it was tough for the first few years.

I don't want this to come across as "woe is me". I have a good income and I'm in Perth where the housing market is as accessible as it has been for over a decade. Personally I'm not struggling, and I agree that in Perth at least, someone on an average wage can still set themselves up if they make some sacrifices. Like the good old days.

But I just don't see how anyone can look at the situation in Sydney or Melbourne and not see that it's a completely f*cked different situation to 30-40 years ago.