Housing crisis for young people

Young people's difficulty accessing housing is widespread.

"Settling down and having a career" is a very familiar idiom. And not only in Vietnam, the desire to have a stable, long-term place to live is also the goal of people in many countries, especially the young. But in recent years, owning a house of your own is increasingly becoming a distant dream for many young people around the world .

A recent survey by Coldwell Banker, a real estate firm in the US, shows that up to 84% of young people of the Gen Z generation in this country are having to delay their home buying plans, even though the rate of desire to buy a home among Generation Z and Millennials is still very high, over 90%.

Not only that, housing costs are also becoming an increasingly difficult problem for many young people. Another survey in the US showed that 70% of young people are struggling with rent costs. In Europe, nearly 10% of young people are "overloaded" with housing costs - higher than the average for the entire population. Overloaded here means that housing costs account for 40% or more of disposable income.

Housing crisis for young people in Australia

Australia is a land where real estate prices, including purchase prices and rental costs, are skyrocketing, making it increasingly difficult for young people to access the housing market.

Brisbane’s CBD, Queensland, is considered a desirable place to live, with its famous cafes, parks and convenient transport links. However, high demand has caused the average rent in the area to skyrocket to more than $1,000 a week, up 19% from last year. This puts rents out of reach for many young people on low incomes, forcing them to accept house sharing to ease the financial pressure.

“It’s a bit stressful,” said tenant Tutu. “You have to try to juggle everything. Sharing the costs helps us save money.”

Record high house prices have forced many young people to rely on family support to be able to rent a home.

"Anyone who applies to rent a house will only be considered if they meet the income requirement of about three times the rent. Many young people have to apply for a house with proof of their parents' income as guarantors," said Carmen Benson, director of a real estate company.

Renting a home is difficult, and buying a home is even more out of reach for many young people. According to statistics, the average house price in Australia in October increased by 7.5% in just one year, to 858 thousand AUD, 51% higher than 5 years ago. As a result, many young people have to delay important milestones such as moving out or having children.

A recent survey by Home in Place found that high housing prices are causing more than half of Australians aged 18-35 to consider moving overseas to find cheaper housing. Of those, 16% actually intend to leave – an unprecedented level of brain drain due to high housing costs.

The key problem leading to housing difficulties is the shortage of supply.

Reasons why young people have difficulty with housing

It can be seen that housing is increasingly becoming a serious problem for young people, as the real estate market in many countries is facing a series of basic difficulties that make it difficult for not only young people, but also many other groups of people to access.

The key to the housing crisis is a lack of supply. In the US, for example, recent reports estimate a shortage of around 7 million homes. Demand is concentrated in major cities, while rural areas are plagued by empty homes. Rising input costs and complex regulations are also hampering the push for new projects. These factors have caused home prices and rents to rise rapidly relative to incomes. In the UK, house prices have risen at twice the rate of wage growth over the past two decades, and private rents have risen by more than 9% in the last year alone.

Young people try to adapt to housing difficulties

Clearly, young people are very dynamic and they have started to look for new opportunities to achieve their housing goals. For example, in Korea, the skyrocketing real estate prices have pushed many young people of Generation Z into investment assets, especially crypto assets in recent years, with the hope of accumulating enough to put down a deposit on a house. But this path is not without risks. In many other countries, young people as well as the community are also looking for different ways to contribute to reducing housing difficulties in society.

In Japan, while housing prices in major cities like Tokyo are skyrocketing, the paradox is that the country is and will continue to have tens of thousands of vacant homes due to the aging population. And recently, a trend has become increasingly popular among young people and other groups of residents facing housing difficulties - finding and choosing "unlucky" apartments, which are considered to have bad feng shui or have had someone die, so that they can buy or rent them at a lower price.

Mr. Akira Ookuma - Happy Planning real estate agent commented: "We specialize in finding customers houses with bad feng shui, such as this one, which after renovation can be sold for 20% lower, making it quite attractive to many customers."

In the US, community organizations are also working to find solutions to support young people in housing issues. An organization in Pennsylvania recently opened a small 16-room apartment building, exclusively for young people.

Dee Allen, Director of Thrive Housing, a community organization, said: "The problem in the area today is that many young people cannot find permanent housing after their temporary rental period. We have partnered with a number of organizations and investors to build this housing complex, for young people aged 18-25 to register to rent."

Similar to this model, social housing complexes in the Austrian capital Vienna are highly appreciated by many experts, supporting middle-class people and young people to have long-term accommodation at low costs. Developed by housing associations, these complexes subsidize rents for customers at a level below 30% of average income.

Mr. Wolfgang Amann - Vienna Institute for Real Estate, Construction and Housing said; "Housing associations are private units operating not for profit to help develop social housing without using State capital. They still receive support from the Government such as tax incentives and land leases".

According to experts, the housing shortage, especially for young people, is still a long-term problem in many countries. Strategies to promote housing supply and provide flexible financial conditions for young people are considered key solutions to solve this problem in the long term.

Comment (0)