It is a method of forced saving for some, buying the first house is the only way some manage to save. Providing that over the life of the mortgage, it rises in value.
The funny thing is that if you add up all the interest payments you're usually paying a lot more than the original purchase price. Now with the RBA bringing us into the new era of ZIRP and now QE we're in unchartered waters.
Some commentators are suggesting that these factors combined with extremely high levels of debt exposure, extremely high real estate prices and banks going soft on lending practices, it all means we're heading towards bank nationalisation. It's not impossible.
I'm starting to think that gold bugs have a point. Certainly I have exposure to gold via an exploration stock. But maybe I'm being too cautious. Real estate looks very choppy to me. Unless you're in Perth or Darwin, which historically have been boom and bust anyway.
