Most mid to later gen x'ers i know have fairly minimal student...

Most mid to later gen x'ers i know have fairly minimal student loans but unless they have gotten into the property market early they have next to no equity in their homes and drive cars bought with credit

Whilst they should be getting into the high earning time of life they are also getting into the high spending stage of life with kids and the relentless cost of living increases in Australia mean they are effectively broke with a job loss meaning selling their property to survive.

This is with interest rates at record lows. Wage growth for those that are salaried is non existent

The middle classes in the US and the UK started getting hollowed out by off-shoring and the like around 15 years ago and this accelerated during the GFC. I believe Australia is only starting to now see this as the technology connects us to the world and distance becomes less of a barrier.

The really scary thing for these people with mortgage debt though is the Gen Y-ers coming up behind (who would normally be the ones paying more into the property ponzi) seem like they don't have a pot to piss in in sum as their job prospects are pretty bleak.

They look like the meat in the sandwich between y's who have no assets and boomers who have all the assets but will likely be sellers at some point. X levered up to live the dream they can't afford.