Australia is facing a housing crisis in its capital cities and for many people home ownership will never be a reality, writes Amy Bainbridge. Unless living in regional areas becomes a viable option, how are we ever going to fix this modern day conundrum?

Australians live in a vast expanse of a country, yet our dilemma is that we all seem to want to live in the same spot.

With demand for housing outweighing supply in our capital cities, it's presenting a modern day conundrum across a broad cross section of society.

There are people saving to buy homes, others who are enjoying the fruits of their investment, those who are struggling to rent in a competitive rental market, some on tight budgets to make mortgage repayments, and everyone else in between.

The ABC put the call out on social media this week to find people to speak to for a story on house prices. Our coverage was linked to yesterday's Reserve Bank decision on interest rates which saw rates lowered by 25 basis points.

We wanted to know just who the interest rate decision would impact most.

We wanted members of Generation Y, in the 18-29 age bracket, to tell us about their views and experiences in the housing market. We wanted to know what they felt their prospects were of being able to buy a property one day.

We also wanted Baby Boomers to tell us about their experiences. We were overwhelmed with volunteers. The property market is something that gets people talking - but for vastly different reasons.

New analysis from Roy Morgan Research points to a generational divide in housing.

There are the Baby Boomers, many of whom have worked hard for years and have all but paid off their mortgages. Some are now also enjoying the tax breaks that come with owning investment properties. Then there's Gen Y, for whom property ownership may only become reality when it's handed on to them by their family in the distant future.

Roy Morgan Research says more members of Gen Y are renting than ever, fewer have mortgages, and more are have travelled overseas in the past 12 months than ever before.

Many members of Gen Y see owning a home or apartment as a sign they'll be tied down and a slave to their jobs.

It's such an unrealistic dream anyway that research suggests this demographic figures they should invest in life experiences instead.

The housing market is so competitive that buying a home has become a lottery. Want evidence? Talk to anyone who's attended a soul-destroying auction recently.

There are many people in Australia for whom home ownership will never be a reality.

There are horror waiting lists for public housing in Victoria. So a compounding factor of all this is what it's doing to the rental market.

The Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute (AHURI) is quick to point out that many people on low incomes are being priced out of the rental market. That's because those on middle incomes are renting while they save for a deposit, rent because of a change in personal circumstance, or rent for convenience while their investment property lies elsewhere.

AHURI says housing un-affordability doesn't just affect those who want to buy. There's a broader effect on society.

I'm on the wrong side of 30 to be labelled a Gen-Yer. The property market has been an unpleasant adventure. Over time, my better half and I scraped together what we thought was a pretty decent deposit to buy a home. But almost half of that will be chewed up in stamp duty.

To keep a lid on stamp duty and live within our means, we searched Melbourne high and low for something affordable. We looked increasingly to Melbourne's fringe and seriously considered Werribee, 30 kilometres to Melbourne's west.

Werribee's town centre is charming, yet it consistently receives a bad rap from those who've never bothered to visit.

In the end, the lack of infrastructure turned us away. Without efficient public transport, and amid warnings of the unreliability of the train system, the commute after a long day was too daunting.

It was the same to Melbourne's beautiful north - houses are more affordable at the foothills of the Dandenongs, but catching the train to work would take around an hour, and that estimate does not factor in the commute to and from the station at either end.

To me, this is the crux of the problem.

Without decent infrastructure and public transport, how are we ever going to fix this modern day conundrum?

I'd live in regional Victoria in a heartbeat if I could commute to work on a high-speed train. But this requires real vision and commitment to build projects like this in an expensive country.

It takes boldness from politicians, and that's something that's been lacking for some time.

How can we fix this? Continuing the conversation about housing is a good start.

Amy Bainbridge is the ABC's consumer affairs reporter. You can follow Amy on twitter: @amy_bainbridge. View her full profile here.