Great job, good education, no home: is Australia’s bloated property market destroying the middle class?

A fresh cycle of interest rate cuts have propelled house prices in capital cities to peak levels - locking new buyers out of the market

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Ross Hamilton spends his work days in a laboratory developing treatments for fibrosis. At home, he sets aside as much time as possible to be with his partner, their four-year-old daughter and their baby boy, who was born just a few weeks ago.

The 43-year-old is well educated, works in a cutting-edge industry and is part of a dual-income household. But despite this, the couple cannot afford a family home anywhere near his Sydney workplace or prospective schools as property prices increase at a faster pace than the family can save for a deposit.