Australia’s property market has long been a source of pride and wealth generation for many, but for millions of Australians, it has become a symbol of inequality, economic imbalance, and growing social frustration. As personal savings rates fall to historic lows and household net worth continues to skyrocket, the government’s housing policy has come under fire for failing to address the widening gap between property owners and those locked out of the market. Now, social media is aflame with outrage, reflecting a growing discontent among both renters and aspiring homeowners.
The Plummeting Savings Rate: A Warning Ignored
The latest figures paint a worrying picture: Australia’s personal savings rate has plunged to just 0.6%, down from pandemic highs of 24% (ABS, 2024).
In contrast, household net worth — driven primarily by property values — remains high, at nearly 770% of disposable income. This growing disparity is drawing intense criticism across social platforms, as renters and potential homeowners voice frustration over what they see as a broken housing market. Memes, viral posts, and TikToks decry the impossibility of ever buying a home, while Twitter threads express outrage over rising rental prices squeezing out everyday Australians.
The Illusion of Household Wealth
Despite the impressive rise in net worth, the bulk of this wealth is tied up in property assets. For existing homeowners, it may seem like a victory — on paper, they are richer than ever. However, this wealth is often illiquid, and tapping into it requires either selling property or taking on additional debt. Meanwhile, renters and first-home buyers face an uphill battle, as soaring home prices and increasing rents outpace stagnant wage growth.
Social media has become the public forum where these frustrations are aired, with hashtags like #housingcrisis and #renttooexpensive going viral. Posts lament the fact that for younger Australians, buying a home seems less like a milestone and more like a distant fantasy. The sentiment is clear: “How are we supposed to save for a home deposit when rent consumes half our income?” cries one popular Instagram post.
The Government’s Housing Policy: A Missed Opportunity
Australian housing policy has long been criticised for being too reliant on demand-side measures that exacerbate inequality. First-home buyer schemes, while politically popular, often inflate housing demand without addressing the root cause of the affordability crisis — supply constraints and speculative investment in real estate.
The government’s failure to curb negative gearing and capital gains tax concessions continues to incentivise speculative property investment, driving prices higher and locking out new buyers. Investors, buoyed by low-interest rates and significant household equity, are snapping up properties, further inflating net worth for those already in the market, while renters and prospective buyers face an increasingly unattainable dream.
This policy mix creates a dangerous two-tier housing market:
- Established homeowners and investors benefit from government-backed incentives and rising net worth.
- First-home buyers and renters, struggling with rising costs and falling savings rates, are left on the outside looking in.
On TikTok, users post videos dissecting how negative gearing and capital gains tax exemptions for property investors continue to favor the wealthy, encouraging speculative investments and driving prices further out of reach for regular families. As one user puts it, “The government is fueling the fire, making rich property owners richer, while the rest of us are stuck renting forever.”
Rising Rental Prices: Another Front in the Crisis
As more Australians find themselves unable to buy, the rental market is becoming increasingly competitive — and expensive. Social media outrage is swelling over rental price hikes and unlivable conditions, with many tenants posting stories of bidding wars for rentals, unaffordable increases, and exploitation by landlords. Platforms like Reddit’s r/AusFinance and r/Australia are flooded with discussions about record-high rents in Sydney and Melbourne, sparking debate about whether the government is doing enough to protect renters from being priced out of even modest homes.
Influencers and commentators have jumped on this issue, calling out how government focus on homeownership as the ideal leaves renters neglected, with little in the way of protections or long-term solutions. Renters feel abandoned by policies that prioritize increasing housing prices, which benefits investors at the expense of affordable renting options.
A Market on the Brink of Collapse?
The social media outcry isn’t just about affordability; it’s also about fear. Fear that Australia’s housing market is a bubble on the brink of bursting. Fear that government policies are inflating an unsustainable property market that could crash, leaving new homeowners drowning in debt. The savings rate is the canary in the coal mine. When people stop saving and prices keep going up, something’s going to give.
Memes shared on Instagram and Twitter suggest a grim future, joking that today’s homeowners could become tomorrow’s victims of a housing market crash. The sentiment is clear: people are nervous that the very policies designed to boost wealth through property ownership could lead to a financial catastrophe if the market corrects.
A Growing Call for Change
The groundswell of social media activism reflects a growing desire for a fundamental shift in the government’s approach to housing. Calls for scrapping negative gearing and limiting speculative property investment dominate online discussions, while zoning reform and public housing investment are frequently touted as more sustainable solutions. Influential voices argue that the government must focus on affordable housing rather than propping up property values, a message that is resonating particularly strongly with younger Australians.
At its core, the social media backlash underscores a deep frustration that government policy continues to favor wealthy property owners and investors over renters and aspiring homeowners. As household net worth rises, buoyed by ever-increasing property prices, the growing divide between the “haves” and the “have-nots” is sparking outrage — and demands for meaningful reform.
The Real Solution: Rethinking Housing Policy
What the government needs to do is shift focus from propping up property prices to making housing genuinely affordable. This would include:
- Boosting housing supply through zoning reform and infrastructure investment — current planning processes are too bureaucratic and basically broken.
- Phasing out negative gearing and capital gains tax discounts that encourage property speculation.
- Investing in affordable rental housing to relieve pressure on the rental market, which is seeing increasing demand due to the unaffordability of buying — A Government department focussed on sourcing and delivery?
- Targeted savings incentives to encourage financial resilience, especially for younger Australians who are struggling to build wealth.
The widening gap between savings and net worth is a warning sign that Australia’s housing market is approaching unsustainable levels.
Conclusion
The plummeting savings rates and soaring property-driven net worth are warning signs that something is fundamentally broken in Australia’s housing market. While the government continues to treat rising property values as a measure of success, millions of Australians are being left behind — unable to save, afford rent, or ever hope to buy a home. Without a significant policy shift, the government risks exacerbating the housing affordability crisis and deepening financial inequality.
The canary in the coal mine has sung, and social media is amplifying its voice but is anyone in Canberra really listening?
John Wills FAPI CPV JP
Principal
Wills Property