While unemployment hits a record high and those on JobSeeker wonder what they’ll do once the payment decreases this month, cashed-up Australians are also re-evaluating their priorities.
A report by the AFR covered such stresses in inner Sydney suburbs, but was mistaken as satire by some. It includes quotes from buyer's agent Rodney McLoughlin who claims many of his clients --- who are now working from home -- are considering buying properties further away from Sydney’s CBD.
"Even our clients who have typically wanted to be around Double Bay, Bellevue Hill, Darling Point are now saying 'well we don't mind if we live at Watson's Bay’,” McLoughlin said.
"I know that doesn't seem too far but with traffic to get to the city from Watson's Bay compared to Darling Point is probably an extra 30 minutes each way," he added.
"Then you've got other people going to the extreme and wanting to move to Palm Beach or Avalon rather than the eastern suburbs or lower north shore.”
Rushcutters Bay, Sydney. Source: Getty
The article was ridiculed on social media with one Twitter user asking: “Fin Review are having a laugh, right?”.
“Skipped right over Rose Bay - things must be serious,” another person joked.
“Slumming it in Watson’s Bay,” another user added.
But the reference was lost on those living outside the Sydney bubble, compelling one person to clarify the Melbourne equivalent would be “even out clients who have typically wanted to be around Brighton, are now saying 'well we don't mind if we live at Hampton."
The article was mocked because of the financial hardship many Australians are facing during the pandemic.
One couple mentioned in the piece said they’ve been “forced” to work from their Birchgrove home during the pandemic.
The couple has three children and works for a global fund management company. They referred to the difficulty of not having a home office space after the birth of their third child, who took over the study as a bedroom.
"The lockdown has made us realise that with a family of five, even though we have a big house, losing that study was difficult," the woman said. They ultimately ended up selling their home to buy a bigger house in Hunters Hill, in Sydney’s lower north shore.
And their experience is not isolated, it seems. McLoughlin said his buyer’s agent in the Southern Highlands has been “busier now than she’s ever been.”
Watson's Bay, Sydney. Source: AAP
"The last two sales our buyer's agent in the Southern Highlands negotiated were from people in Sydney who said 'we don't need to live in Sydney anymore, we can work down in Bowral.' "
While buying property in the midst of a national recession is an impossible thought for most, it’s not surprising that rich Australians are able to afford it.
According to the AFR, the country’s richest 20 people “enjoyed a cumulative increase in wealth over the past year from $143 billion to $189 billion, a 32 per cent bump at a time of wage stagnation for most workers.”
A report from the Australian Council of Social Service and the University of New South Wales also shows wealth inequality is sharply escalating, especially among young Australians.
It found the earnings of the top 20 per cent were six times higher than those in the bottom 20 per cent -- an increase from five times in 2015-16.
