The qualitative data include: housing market experiences; how people choose and use their mortgages(as leverage for housing investments and as a way of spending from housing wealth); and home owners and buyers' attitudes to housing wealth. The data collection comprises 8 transcripts from 8 focus groups with a total of 73 participants, recruited by post, flier, and word of mouth. The interviews were conducted in mid-late 2007 in Melbourne, Australia. This data collection is the Australian component of a study aiming at enlarging understandings of the beliefs and behaviors around housing wealth and mortgage debt in the ‘home ownership’ societies of the more developed world. The data include: housing market experiences; how people choose and use their mortgages (as leverage for housing investments and as a way of spending from housing wealth); and home owners and buyers’ attitudes to housing wealth. This complements data already deposited from the UK component: the ESRC-funded study deposited as SN 5849 - 'Banking on housing; Spending the home'.

This is a (one-time) cross-sectional study, with participants being mainly mortgaged home-buyers, but the study also includes renters and outright owners (some with investment properties). The data refer specifically to the Melbourne housing market, and more generally to trends in Australia. Focus groups with home owners, buyers and renters looking to own their own homes: (1) first-time buyers; (2) established home buyers;(3) established home buyers; (4) enters in the process of buying a home; (5) high income home occupiers; (6) buyers in mortgage stress; (7) home sellers; (8) outright owners. The time period covered by the data is the early 2000s, reflecting on a phase unprecedented house price appreciation. Participants were the result of non-random, purposive selection(volunteer sample).