The federal government thinks it might be. Real Estate Institute of Australia denies it.
It's not the only reason. There is no one reason.
Off the top of my head:
- Pension changes driving some boomers to nest egg in property which drove up prices
- Active destruction of public housing pushing more and more people into private housing which drove up prices
- Tax incentives encouraging property speculation which drove up prices
- Allowance of foreign purchase which encouraged landbanking and laundering and pushed up prices
- New builds failing to keep pace with increase in population limiting availability and pushing up prices
- Volume builders land squatting and releasing less than required to maintain artificial scarcity and push up prices
- Failure to decentralise employment hubs coupled with failure to increase density pushing more people into the same area, causing scarcity and driving up prices
Add one more. Ridiculous building standards pushing building cost over the roof. Even if land is free, new house is way to expensive for many to afford.
Maybe labour costing way too much nowadays, building suppliers making a killing on materials
So the people building homes should be paid less? What if they want to own a home themselves? That shits expensive!
I thought it was more a case of nobody (except those who don't own a house) wanting prices to fall because so many people have their wealth invested in property. Even if it is a money laundering issue, no government will do anything that results in prices falling.
If you're debating/interviewing someone in a position of power about housing policy, the first question you should ask is "Do you want house prices and rents to fall?"
Maybe follow up with, "And if you agree they need to fall, by roughly what percentage do you think they should fall over the next 12 months?"
Most politicians and property industry spokespeople will dodge the question, because at the end of the day they don't actually want prices to fall.
If they won't give you a straightforward 'yes i want them to fall' answer, any subsequent arguments/debates about HOW to improve 'affordability' might not be worth having with them, because those kinds of people will never support any policies that would put significant downward pressure on property values.
Former Councillor Jonathan Sriranganathan, in a Facebook post of 30 June, 2023.
The first question you should ask anyone is "How many properties do you or your family own?"
Nearly half of the MPs have investment properties. Of course they won't want any policies to reduce property price growth.
