OPINION: You cannot buy a home if you don’t have a job
FEDERAL Treasurer Joe Hockey's comment that if people seek to enter the housing market in a place such as Sydney they should simply get a better paying job, comes in a reality where big city jobs are attainable but house prices are out of reach of the first-home buyer.
In Warwick - as in many other smaller towns scattered throughout Australia - we have the reverse challenge.
Our houses seem tantalisingly affordable but for many, the jobs are out of reach.
Warwick Credit Union CEO Lewis von Stieglitz says Warwick appeals to the first-home buyer as a very affordable town.
This is, he says, because house prices are much more reasonable than in a larger city.
He he says that in Warwick you can get an entry-level house for $250,000 - quite affordable for someone earning an average wage.
Licensee at Southern Downs realty Brent Bowles agrees.
But he says a lack of employment opportunities means fewer people are taking advantage of better prices here.
So ... Warwick enjoys a great and enviable lifestyle;
Warwick has very affordable house prices;
What Warwick does not have are jobs.
We have the solution. The question is, how do we address the problem.
