Generation Y - homeless ?

Read in today's Australian :

PROPERTY experts have offered a bleak picture for Australia's youth, with only one in 14 believing members of Generation Y will ever be able to buy their own home.

A survey by the Residential Development Council (RDC) released today showed only seven per cent of industry insiders believed Generation Y - those born between 1978 and 1998 - would be able to overcome surging house prices and land shortages to buy their own family home.

More than 40 per cent believed members of Generation Y would be forced to continue living with their parents before being forced to rent or live in share accommodation.

RDC executive director Ross Elliott said the decline in housing affordability was going to hit Generation Y hard.

"The earlier generations have already got a toehold in the property market but it is these younger Generation Ys who are really going to suffer," Mr Elliott said.

"When you have only one in 14 experts in the property industry - whose job it is to spot trends in the sector - thinking that Generation Y will own their own homes, you know you are in trouble."

Happy Valentine!

Our lovely nanny Sandra prepared some yummy lovehearts...

Very Juleen (3)

Birthday Pictures

Juleen is now 2 !
Thanks for all the pressies and lovely (e) cards !
A few more pictures can be found here.

Juleen

Happy Chinese New Year!

2007 is the year of the pig - not a coincidence another baby Vandepitte junior, ;-)

I love the pub

My first real pub experience. Tastes like more, papa!

Happy Birthday Juleen (04/02/07)

Drawing from Nina

Soccer champion Nina (our nanny Sandra's daughter), has inherited the art and craft skills from mummy.
Thank you for another beautiful drawing, Nina!!

Unusual birthday flowers

Almost 2 years ago Juleen's grandparents planted a tree in the garden in Holsbeek - a special gift to celebrate her birth. Now end of January, a week before Juleen's birthday, and nature seems to be all but confused, looking at the beautiful flowers on her tree. Thanks for the picture pappie.

Busy Hong Kong

Last Monday I left to Hong Kong for a week, I had a global meeting on one of my most exciting projects. The first morning in the hotel when I woke up, I was very surprised to see the parc full of people in gym gear but not moving at all, just a very different way to get energised and kick start your day - in Sydney everybody is kick-boxing, jogging or doing bootcamps in the morning. Unfortunately I haven't been able to see much more of the city than the trips from the hotel to work, but HK has a great feel to it, full of energy and it lives at a high pace. I couldn't believe my eyes when I left the office at 10pm one night, the streets were overbusy (see pics), much more so than any time during the day. HK's heart beats at night and all people are out in the streets. The city is full of expats and they are very welcoming, they all have domestic helps that mostly live in (cleaning, cooking, nannying) and tax rates are only 13% - sounds attractive to me. On the downside, all people live in flats (houses with gardens are for presidents only) and the pollution is shocking. 360 days per year, they can't see the other end of the river (I was apparantly very lucky to experience 1 clear day, see pic2 vs pic3).