Im not in australia but yeah. assesment, mortgage, insurance. Its over a grand a month. Lower than rent for sure but you still have that and only after you pay off your mortgage which is often when you are retired. Moving to a new city for a job becomes that much more complicated. Gotta pay rent in the new place and mortgage plus the rest till you sell. If that happens during a crash then maybe you walk away but then that whole time your monthly cost was over renting and you never got that sweet after payoff deal. Further the renter can put the difference into savings or investments for 30 years.