ThinkLeft #3: Why Can’t We Afford to Buy Houses Anymore?

There was a time where working a regular 9-5 job would enable you to buy a house (at the very least a single storey landed property) and raise some kids in it, if you so desire. After all, that’s what Baby Boomers and Gen Xs did. Unfortunately, that is not the case for most millennials today, not unless they’ve inherited some family wealth. You constantly hear about the average Malaysian, even degree holders, not being able to afford adequate housing, despite it being a basic necessity – a human right. One would think that the demand is so high and the supply is so low. But this isn’t the case in Malaysia -- there are new developments every day, you drive around neighbourhoods and see empty houses and luxurious condos, and yet, nobody can afford them. So, what went wrong? And how do we fix it?

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