I was not going to use this forum to whinge about interest rates and housing affordability. This blog is about finding a way to get on with it and get over it. But, sheesh. It's causing me some consternation.
The situation for everyone who wants to buy a home is that each interest rate rise reduces the amount that we can borrow. For us it is a significant amount. It will take us twelve months to save what the last two rate rises have cost us.
Meanwhile house prices go up alarmingly fast- houses we saw in the sub-$250,000 range are now $269,000. This increase has only happened since November '07. Six months and $20,000 difference.
The alarming part is that even on our stringent saving schedule, we can't keep up.
The irritating part is the advice from people who know us and who should know better don't 'get' our position.
"What's wrong with the house across the road?",
"Hmm, that $350,000 house across the road is lovely, thanks for pointing it out, but as we've told you before, there is no way we can buy that.".
"Hmph, well, have you even looked at it? You could offer a bit less,"
"No, because we don't think they'll accept an offer $100,000 below the advertised price. Most likely it will sell for $420,000.."
"Nah, really?"
"Yes, really,". Grrr.
There's nothing we can do but keep saving and keep searching. But it is a dispiriting process. I daydream that we save for so long that we can pay half and can get a great house. Who knows where we'll be in five years? What about when I am working full time again, on a decent wage? Imagine saving a whole adult wage! Great, but will I have a house before I'm forty? Will I be drinking powdered milk for that long?
PS
I promise to lift the tone of my posts after this. I've lost my sense of fun and joy in what started out as an amusing project.
Happy Birthday baby boy. One year already! See how time flies?
1 comment:
great article on interest rates:
http://rosettamoon.copley.org.au/?p=5#more-5
also, I had a recent enquiry from the blogger about birthday year. the last few years I've been celebrating birthday week, which is much better than birthday as it gives everyone much more time to enjoy lavishing love and gifts upon me. this year I thought I'd reform the model again and launch the somewhat radical idea of birthday year. I informed my mother and she seems more than happy to celebrate every day of my existence with birthday animated emails and birthday presents in the mail, which usually arrive on a weekly basis as a bulk package. I'd say it's working for everybody.
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