For too many people, the dream of owning your own home has turned into a nightmare: even a basic house is now beyond the reach of the average Australian.

Just last week I was talking to a tradie, who told me that three years ago he bought a place for $330,000 in a fairly ordinary suburb, and that that property is now worth $990,000 - which makes him a millionaire. His is probably not a unique experience; anecdotal evidence tells me that in the lower price brackets property values have at least doubled in the past 3-5 years. Does that mean everybody's rates are about to double too, in line with the soaring neighbourhood values? And if so, what will that do to people's already-stretched budgets ?

To get an idea of the challenges facing young home buyers, I asked a mortgage broker about the

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