@snout, I remember my parents in the mid sixties worried about...

@snout, I remember my parents in the mid sixties worried about the overpriced housing market.

'How will the next generation ever afford to buy a home'

I can only speak for the situation in Perth. A boom and bust city that is hugely reliant on mining. What was worth a million 10 years ago is still about the same, if that. Many have had negative equity for a decade since buying then, including my own offspring.

The 'massive rises' the media spouts are really only rising back from a very low and long base here. We have had possibly a 6-7% uptick from the lows and I would expect another 10% over the next 12 to 18 mths.

How does this compare to the East?

I have an investment property in Subiaco. You can walk to Kings Park, 5 minutes to the CBD, 10 to the river. 100 year old appealing character home with 3 bedrooms and 2 car garage on 250 sq mtres. 12 mths ago it was valued about 825k. Its about $875 now. Ten years ago, the bank valued it at 930k.

If I was in the market, I would be ecstatic about the low interest rates. I would pick good quality property in areas that look reasonable value historically. Perth is definitely that. As I said, I know little of the Eastern states market.