Financial literacy 101

Abstract

The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) sounded a warning in October last year about the high level of household debt in the face of a possible property downturn, the signs of which may be evident in the fall of 1.4% in the September 2017 quarter in Sydney house prices - the first decline in 17 months, and which has continued since then according to private sector data. Household liabilities in Australia were 150% of income in 2016 according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics4 which is one of the highest in the world. In early 2018 Australian property was rated 'severely unaffordable' with Sydney found to be the second least affordable market in the world after Hong Kong.