Australia has some of the world's costliest homes. Will scrapping tax breaks help?

Key developments are emerging from the global stage. Australia has some of the world's costliest homes. Will scrapping tax breaks help? 6 hours ago Share Save Add as preferred on GoogleTiffanie TurnbullandLana Lam ,SydneyGettyAustralia's government has scrapped some tax breaks for investors in a bid to help first home owners.

Sebastian Muñoz-Najar has only just finished primary school. The 13-year-old is still years away from learning how to drive. He cannot legally work.

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He's too young to even have a social media account. But he's already despairing about his future housing prospects. Amid near constant headlines about Australia's deepening housing crisis, the Adelaide student began worrying about what the future might look like for his generation.

Armed with Google and a calculator, Sebastian was shocked to find that, if the current trajectory of house prices and wage growth continues, by the time he graduates from university the average house in his city will be 17 times his likely income. "It's really sad to see how this issue is affecting the present generation's views on what Australia is - how their life should go," he told the . While there's no dispute that Australia is in a housing crisis, solutions to it have divided the nation and paralysed politics for over a decade.

Now the government is promising a polarising reform, scrapping lucrative tax breaks which it says will help tackle the intergenerational inequality which has come to define the market. Critics argue it could stifle the investment Australia needs to build more houses and could worsen the plight of renters. Others say the rule changes unfairly threaten the wealth they've spent their lives toiling for.

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But many younger Australians like Sebastian argue the social contract that hard work is rewarded has long been broken anyway. They feel they have been denied the kinds of opportunities their parents enjoyed, and hope the changes will begin rebalancing the playing field and bring housing security back in reach for future generations. SuppliedSebastian Muñoz-Najar, 13, is already worried about how he will be able to afford to buy a home when he's olderHousing has become a lucrative investmentAustralia has some of the least affordable cities on Earth.

The average property now costs almost 10 times an ordinary household's income, quadruple what it was about 25 years ago, and rents have doubled over a similar period. The simple fact is that Australia does not have enough homes for its growing population, which is driving unaffordability. Decades of inadequate investment in social housing, sluggish construction rates, and Australia's restrictive planning laws - which limit homes being built where most people want to live – have taken a toll.

But there have long been arguments that housing tax breaks are also increasing strain on the system.

The development has drawn wide international attention, with diplomatic circles watching closely.