Could the best way to break into the notorious Australian housing market be to buy a plane ticket to America?

Housing affordability is arguably the most important financial problem facing Australians today. Whereas the average house cost a typical worker four years of wages in the early 2000s, the cost has doubled to more than eight times today.

Wages in many US cities, including Boston, are far higher than wages in Australia.

In response to this, a good financial adviser would advise you of two things. One, you have good reason to feel sorry for yourself. Second, get on with it, and save as much as you can by maximising your income and minimising your expenses.

While this advice is correct, high cost-of-living pressures faced by households are making it difficult to cut expenses. Raising income isn’t much easier. Wages grew 3.4 per cent over the last year while house prices grew 8.6 per cent.

But moving to the US could prove an effective way to increase wages quickly. When I moved to Boston, I was staggered by the wage differences. For an identical job at the same company in the consulting industry,........

© The Sydney Morning Herald