A Letter to Mike Pascoe

funnybird

Mike Pascoe,

You are absolutely on the money. I wish there were more articles in mainstream media to educate otherwise highly geared mortage holders.

This is a flaw in housing policy that has pushed prices so high that an out of cycle interest rate increase puts people on the brink. You cant tell me there would be all this indignation if people had $100-200k mortgages (which are the norms in most countries), rather than upwards of $500k plus. I have no idea what people were thinking.

Ultimately the banks have owners (not the Australian mortagee) that they have to answer to. The lack of a decent housing policy has pushed prices up to ridiculous levels where mortagees are squealing like injured pigs. And I feel for them Mike, I really do, but they should have attending credit counselling before they took out these massive loans that they had no hope of being able to repay. This is Australia's sub-prime crisis.

Meanwhile, Australia will keep building less homes, keep bringing in more immigrants, and exacerbating the housing problem. And the pollies will keep blaming the banks for out of cycle interest rates (which they will keep doing, knowing they cant fix the real problem). Part of this is a cultural problem (obsession with owning), and the other, negative gearing on existing housing. These will continue.

I look forward to watching young Australians hopes of owning a property disappear over the next 20 years, while thanking my good fortune for being able to leave this ridiculous housing mess for overseas.

Ps- Please share your thinking with Ian Verrender at smh, I think he would greatly benefit from your insight and may be minded to write more on this subject than his ongoing bank bashing themed articles.

IT King | Out of Oz - November 15, 2010, 8:21AM

See Mike's Original article here: http://www.theage.com.au/business/bank-bashing-turns-dangerous-in-a-housing-policy-vacuum-20101115-17t25.html