As house prices skyrocket to eye-watering heights around the country, many young Aussies are wondering if they are ever going to get on the property ladder.

The news on housing right now is rather grim. Sydney house values surged by $50,000 in just one month and the Melbourne market could be headed towards a median home value of $1 million by Christmas.

Overall, house prices are tipped to soar by a massive 17 per cent this year across our capital cities – marking the fastest pace of growth since the late 1980s.

It’s a pain that many first homebuyers are feeling. There’s the couple with more than $135,000 who can’t buy in Sydney’s “worst” suburb and another family who have $100,000 but are “totally priced out” of the market.

A Gold Coast’s family with $40,000 wondered whether starting a business was a better investment than finding a forever home.

So what if you have money saved but it’s looking like you’re going to be renting for the next 30 years?

Here’s some ways to make your money grow even if you’re renting (…)

DITCH THE RENTING SHAME

People need to lose the shame around renting, declares money educator and expert Vanessa Stoykov, as people in some countries around the world take out leases for over a decade.

“If you can rent and a have a great life then it’s better than people buying properties and it’s not their ideal property, so they are living in places that they don’t like and then work their way up the property ladder, but have to wait 10 years to upgrade,” she said. “By investing in things outside of property you can grow your money…”