A worrying number of young Australians have given up on ever owning their home, a new survey has found. 

A Resolve Political Monitor poll published on Monday showed 54 per cent of respondents on middle incomes and 63 per cent in the low income bracket think they will never be able to afford their own home. 

Property expert Michael Yardney said he was not surprised by how many people had abandoned hope of becoming a homeowner given the average price of homes. 

‘There is no doubt that it is harder for first time buyers to get into the property market at present,’ he told Daily Mail Australia.

National house and unit prices together in March rose by 0.6 per cent to $704,723, CoreLogic data showed.

Sydney’s median house prices last month rose by 1.5 per cent to $1,230,581 as Melbourne’s equivalent value edged up by 0.6 per cent to $898,644. 

Housing in all five of Australia’s major cities has been considered ‘severely unaffordable’ since the turn of the century, according to the 2023 Demographia International Housing Affordability Scheme.

The Resolve Political Monitor survey, published in , revealed the situation has become so bad there are now concerns the housing market is having a negative impact on the entire economy, affecting cities, governments and the Australian way of life.

Living standards and productivity are harmed by the property sector taking a growing proportion of people’s incomes, experts fear.

This, in turn, can change how businesses and employees make key economic choices – such as people whose skills are needed moving away from where those jobs are because they can’t afford to live there.

Ten straight interest rate rises from May 2022 to March 2023 have already made home ownership more difficult, and this was compounded by property prices rising last month for the first time in 10 months.

Since 2005, the median house price in Sydney and Melbourne has increased by 3.5 times the inflation rate and 2.5 times the increase in average weekly earnings. 

Jim Reed, director of Resolve, said high house prices and rents meant younger people were being discouraged from entering the real estate market.

‘Many young people have simply given up on the dream of owning a home, at least in their early careers, and some are even telling me that they are giving up on having a family because they can’t afford to look after themselves, let alone more mouths,’ he said.

Mr Yardney maintained hope residents would still be able to afford a home, as long as they worked hard to save.

‘There is nothing new about this,’ he said. 

‘I remember after property prices increased from the late 1980s that parents said their children will never be able to afford a house, and look what’s happened since.’

Economist Saul Eslake, who has long been a critic of Australia’s housing policy, said the situation has become so bad it is undermining the living standards of coming generations.

‘I don’t understand why younger people today aren’t out on the streets, protesting against their parents and evDEn eVe nAkLiYAT their grandparents for what they’ve done to the cost of housing in this country,’ he said.

An Australian on an average salary wanting a house is now almost locked out of the inner cities or towns near the beach unless they are prepared to live in a flood zone. 

Financial comparison Canstar calculated someone on an average, eVden eve NAKLiyAt full-time salary of $94,000, would only be able to borrow $436,000. 

If the prospective homebuyer was able to raise a 20 per cent deposit of $109,000, EVden EvE nAKLiyaT they would therefore only be able to buy a house or unit worth $545,000.

That is less than half Sydney’s median house price of $1,217,308, even after a fall of 14.7 per cent in the year to February, CoreLogic data showed.

The average-income Australian would also now miss out on the middle market house in the more affordable but isolated capital cities like Perth where $587,274 is the mid-point and Darwin where $585,836 is the median.

They are also priced out of Melbourne where $897,222 is the median house price, after an 11.2 per cent drop, along with Brisbane where $767,781 is the mid-point, following an 8.6 per cent decline.