11 hours ago
NAB boss slammed for 'peak boomer' advice for building wealth as everyday Aussies battle a housing crisis
The long-serving former chief economist of one of Australia's big banks has come under fire for comments widely criticised as tone-deaf and out of touch.
Alan Oster, who retired in March after 32 years with NAB, shared his views on building wealth in a recent interview with the Australian Financial Review.
His advice? Invest in property and wait.
'Buy a good property and hold it, is basically the bottom line,' he told the publication.
'We've still got some property down in Portsea and we tend not to sell under normally about 15–20 years.'
But his comments sparked immediate backlash.
'This is funny because Oster [thinks] this is helpful... advice but it's effectively a Paris Hilton singlet saying 'don't be poor',' wrote journalist Mark Di Stefano on X.
Di Stefano jokingly referenced the infamous doctored image of Paris Hilton, where her shirt was edited to read 'Stop being poor', and subsequently went viral.
In reality, the shirt originally said 'Stop being desperate'.
Oster's remarks follow the reported sale of his five-bedroom home in Melbourne's affluent suburb of Brighton.
The property was said to have fetched around $5.5million, reportedly roughly double its 2012 purchase price.
Oster told that the reported figure was inaccurate, though he did not provide an alternative price.
According to the current median house price in Brighton is just over $3million.
Alex Joiner, Chief Economist at IFM Investors, described Oster's remarks as a 'misstep,' saying they highlighted a disconnect from reality for first-home buyers.
'People struggling to buy a home won't like to be told by a Brighton resident how to get a home,' Joiner said.
He added that Oster had benefited from 'structurally lower interest rates, financial deregulation, multiple enormous property booms, and discounted rates and fees from his employer'.
Olster recently sold a home in Brighton (pictured) - one of Melbourne's most exclusive areas
Cameron Kusher, Director of Economic Research at Real Estate Australia, also criticised the piece, saying, 'It wasn't a great read'.
'Most people could only dream of owning a Brighton home. Most buy at much lower prices in much worse locations, and prices haven't risen like they have in Brighton.'
Other readers were less forgiving.
'It's an indictment on this country when the long-serving chief economist of a major bank is reduced to recommending buying luxury property rather than offering any critical analysis,' one wrote.
'Wow, can really see why he was a chief economist. "Buy a good property and hold it",' one person wrote sarcastically.
'Thank goodness there's no housing crisis in Australia and properties are generally affordable, or this article would be pure tumbrel remark,' another commented.
'Peak boomer,' someone else simply replied.
The comments come just weeks after a global housing study ranked five major Australian cities among the 20 least affordable in the world.
Sydney was ranked the second most unaffordable city globally, behind only Hong Kong. Adelaide came in 6th, Melbourne 9th, Brisbane 11th, and Perth 18th.
