City's 20 year boom
Courier Mail Brisbane will be Australia's latest growing city for at least two decades, according to economic analyst Phil Ruthven. The boom in southeast Queensland will swell Brisbane's population to 2.6 million by 2026, up from 1.8 million today. House prices in Australia will quadruple in 20 years, sending the value of the average home soaring to $1.88 million. And wages will rise almost as steeply, with men earning an average of $194,000 a year in 2026 - almost four times today's average of $52,000. Women will earn an average of $178,000 a year. Mr Ruthven prepared the forecasts for a major series in The Australian newspaper - 2026: A Vision for the Nation's Future - which makes some surprising predictions about life in 20 years. The trend towards marrying later in life will continue, with the average age of brides rising to 36 from about 27 now. Smokers will become a dwindling minority. Only 10 per cent of Australians will be smoking by 2026, down from 18 per cent today. Over a lifetime we will work as many hours as our 19th century ancestors, Mr Ruthven predicts. "The great news is that we'll get longer to spread out the hours of grind," he said. "People used to cram their 130,000 hours into 25 years - now it's closer to 50 years and getting longer. That means more leisure time." Australia's population will grow from 20 million to 25 million over two decades, with 80 per cent of us living in cities. The continued growth of southeast Queensland will see Brisbane airport over-taking Melbourne as the country's second-busiest, with the number of passengers expected to increase to more than 35 million a year. Melbourne's population will be boosted by 700,000 to 4.4 million, making it larger than Sydney is today. Sydney will grow more slowly but its population is tipped to pass the 5 million mark in 2026. Perth will continue to grow rapidly, spurred on by the resources boom and the continued growth of China. The city's population is tipped to reach 2 million by 2026, up from 1.5 million today. Growth will be slower in Adelaide, where the population is expected to grow by 100,000 to 1.3 million. Darwin will see the biggest growth in percentage terms of any capital city, with the population rising to 163,000 by 2026, up 44 per cent on today's population of 113,000. Canberra's population will rise from 327,000 today to 375,000 in 2026. The move to high rises will continue, particularly in Sydney, where 45 per cent of people will live in flats and apartments in 2026 compared with 35 per cent today. Research predicts 2018 will be the tipping point for our greying population, when the number of over-60s out-numbers the under-20s.
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House prices in Australia will quadruple in 20 years, sending the value of the average home soaring to $1.88 million. And wages will rise almost as steeply, with men earning an average of $194,000 a year in 2026 - almost four times today's average of $52,000. Women will earn an average of $178,000 a year.
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