Society/Culture The housing crisis. How is it fixed?

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I cant think of a single property investor in my circle right now who would give a crap if the house prices plunged 50%. I own 3 houses about to be 4. Wouldnt impact me in the slightest to get me to sell.

What would is if say rental prices went down by about 70%. That would impact the investors but if we are fair dinkum, if rent prices go down by 70% we got bigger problems then housing prices to deal with

Most rentals i see are yielding less than a garden variety savings account....and that is before costs are accounted for.....doesn't strike me as a particularly sound investment?
 
This thread will be interesting to monitor in real time as we approach the point where land markets start to tumble and the associated problems that will come from that.

I sense some people will be in for a hell of shock. A crash course in the dangers of dabbling in leveraged markets.

Dabbling? For a roof over your family’s head?
 

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I'd prefer to be on the side with the people who rig the game in their favour, not bet against them

Seems a bold strategy you're using

Seriously. You just have to listen to most politicians talk to know that they didn't get to where they did on brains. Come on, most of them can barely string a coherent sentence together.

If politicians are loading up on property, I'm more than happy taking the other side of a risk free bet knowing that 2026 is fast approaching.

My old man was a pit trader in the day, years ago now. So I know a thing or two about markets and sentiment.

I think Aussie property is primed for a bust. The entire market has been distorted, land markets are so high no one can dare start a business to make a quid. The only growth is from public spending and public sector jobs.

This bubble is gigantic and it will be absolute carnage when she pops. The government of the day won't know what to do. Ipswich, west of Brisbane, is currently trading at price levels comparable and higher than Melbourne.

I mean look around. Look at the data. This is going to be yuge. Absolute carnage incoming. Scary in fact. We won't know what hit us.
 
Seriously. You just have to listen to most politicians talk to know that they didn't get to where they did on brains. Come on, most of them can barely string a coherent sentence together.

If politicians are loading up on property, I'm more than happy taking the other side of a risk free bet knowing that 2026 is fast approaching.

My old man was a pit trader in the day, years ago now. So I know a thing or two about markets and sentiment.

I think Aussie property is primed for a bust. The entire market has been distorted, land markets are so high no one can dare start a business to make a quid. The only growth is from public spending and public sector jobs.

This bubble is gigantic and it will be absolute carnage when she pops. The government of the day won't know what to do. Ipswich, west of Brisbane, is currently trading at price levels comparable and higher than Melbourne.

I mean look around. Look at the data. This is going to be yuge. Absolute carnage incoming. Scary in fact. We won't know what hit us.
People have been saying this since I bought my first house in 2014. That was really 'expensive' then and the 'bubble' was about to burst

The doomsdayers would have been much better off buying rather than waiting for the 'crash'
 
In Perth it's just a ludicrous shortage of stock, you get 30+ people at first home opens looking at any old garbage. Then sold in less than a week.

Stuff like mining slowing down will help but we are a fair way from even a regular market let alone an over supply and bubble to crash.
 
In Perth it's just a ludicrous shortage of stock, you get 30+ people at first home opens looking at any old garbage. Then sold in less than a week.

Stuff like mining slowing down will help but we are a fair way from even a regular market let alone an over supply and bubble to crash.
Economics 101. Every shortage is followed by a glut. Always.
 
Economics 101. Every shortage is followed by a glut. Always.
Australias population grew by 660k people

1725935608475.png

Whilst we didn't build enough houses
1725935655491.png

It will take more building with less population growth to cause any 'glut'. We can rule out population growth slowing while they currently import 3x more people than we have deaths. This increases demand as I'm sure an economics101 major like yourself would see

1725935768022.png

There'll be a plateau of prices but no 'crash' and definitely no 'glut' of supply. We'd need a competent government and building industry for that

Very basic googling so the dates are a bit haphazard on the screenshots but there's literally nothing backing up your claims there.

We're increasing demand for housing every single day (& cannot serve the current demand let alone it getting worse), and the problem continues to get worse. You're claiming the complete opposite of reality
 
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We have built an enormous amount of houses for our population - we have something like the 4th highest rate of home building in the developed world.

The issue is demand - totally from the latest out of control round of immigration.

But here is the kicker - that immigration figure will fall off a cliff when the economy starts to tank - people aren't going to stay here and pay off their negative equity out of the goodness of their hearts! They are going to break for the border.

The absurdity of our bubble rivals that of Japan in the late 80s, early 90s.

New owner-occupier credit is growing at 19% p.a, but investor credit is growing at 36% p.a!!!! In no other advanced economy would those figures occur. None. Zilch. Zero.

Mark my words.

Our banking system will be in flames when this is all over.
 
Then you have nothing to worry about?

Housing has crashed 50% and more in many areas around the world, numerous times. In Australia, it has happened in individual markets in recent memory.

Just because an event hasn't happened, doesn't mean it won't.

Time will tell. Let's agree to disagree.
Im not going to mock or related.

Outside of mining towns - can you provide say 3 examples of housing markets that have declined by 50% or more in recent memory in Australia? Im genuinely interested, I cant think of any (outside of mining towns), unless we go back to the 1890s and Great Depression

thanks
 
Im not going to mock or related.

Outside of mining towns - can you provide say 3 examples of housing markets that have declined by 50% or more in recent memory in Australia? Im genuinely interested, I cant think of any (outside of mining towns), unless we go back to the 1890s and Great Depression

thanks

I can't really to be honest - perhaps Gladstone in Central Queensland - in the early 2010s, although it probably scrapes in as a mining town. However, i remember distinctly the region being in a rental crisis with heaps of families priced out and sleeping in tents and caravan parks. Then there was a big shake out and property prices dropped a few years later.

I guess, the issue i am trying to get across, first and foremost, is that it is ignorant, and i respectfully add, foolish, to say just because something hasn't happened yet, to then say, "it can't happen". And that is assuming that we ignore the numerous episodes around the world of property prices dropping by 50% or more for whatever reason. Whether it was Japan in the late 80s/early 90s. Or Canada in the late 80s. Or Spain or Ireland in 2008.

Just about every "black swan" event that shakes financial markets or brings down banks - just about every episode would be described as "unprecedented" by ignorant economists or "unable to be foreseen".

Even if we just take the period since the pandemic - the growth in property prices has lost the plot - 80% gains in some regions in nearly 4 years even. There is no way that growth can be explained by sound fundamentals - it is entirely explained by speculative activity and risk taking.

Time will tell - and I hope I'm wrong, but I feel the 18 year real estate cycle will rear its head and have its way with us.
 

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I can't really to be honest - perhaps Gladstone in Central Queensland - in the early 2010s, although it probably scrapes in as a mining town. However, i remember distinctly the region being in a rental crisis with heaps of families priced out and sleeping in tents and caravan parks. Then there was a big shake out and property prices dropped a few years later.

I guess, the issue i am trying to get across, first and foremost, is that it is ignorant, and i respectfully add, foolish, to say just because something hasn't happened yet, to then say, "it can't happen". And that is assuming that we ignore the numerous episodes around the world of property prices dropping by 50% or more for whatever reason. Whether it was Japan in the late 80s/early 90s. Or Canada in the late 80s. Or Spain or Ireland in 2008.

Just about every "black swan" event that shakes financial markets or brings down banks - just about every episode would be described as "unprecedented" by ignorant economists or "unable to be foreseen".

Even if we just take the period since the pandemic - the growth in property prices has lost the plot - 80% gains in some regions in nearly 4 years even. There is no way that growth can be explained by sound fundamentals - it is entirely explained by speculative activity and risk taking.

Time will tell - and I hope I'm wrong, but I feel the 18 year real estate cycle will rear its head and have its way with us.
Thankyou for your reply. I agree in one respect, any economist worth his salt will acknowledge exogenous events, such as for example corona virus, resulting in for example negative population growth in australia.... the first time ever outside world wars. In many respects i agree housing has bubble like asset pricing, but, in my view, a decline of say 50 percent nationally would require an event such as global environmental catastrophe.... then we have bigger problems than house values
 
Thankyou for your reply. I agree in one respect, any economist worth his salt will acknowledge exogenous events, such as for example corona virus, resulting in for example negative population growth in australia.... the first time ever outside world wars. In many respects i agree housing has bubble like asset pricing, but, in my view, a decline of say 50 percent nationally would require an event such as global environmental catastrophe.... then we have bigger problems than house values

Essentially, a housing bubble reaches a point where both mortgage holders, and renters, start paying an ever increasing amount of their take home pay purely to keeping a roof over their head - that leaves less pay to spend on other facets of the economy - going out to a restaurant for example.

That eventually leads to job losses in the private sector as "for profit" businesses have to close their doors - that is exactly what we are seeing at the moment.

I'm sorry to say, we aren't fixing this housing bubble without a crash of historic proportions - a crash that wipes out banks - requiring systemic bailouts. That is where we are in the cycle. It takes on average 18 years from top to bottom - but we are approaching that point where something is going to break.

And as Quint says in Jaws, "it ain't going to be pleasant".

This is going to be a historic crash. Mark my words.

In the medium, to long term, i see this as a good thing - we need this correction and we need to reset towards more productive enterprises rather than simply trading houses between each other - it never works in the long run - and it leads to brutal downturns. Buckle up folks.
 
Essentially, a housing bubble reaches a point where both mortgage holders, and renters, start paying an ever increasing amount of their take home pay purely to keeping a roof over their head - that leaves less pay to spend on other facets of the economy - going out to a restaurant for example.

That eventually leads to job losses in the private sector as "for profit" businesses have to close their doors - that is exactly what we are seeing at the moment.

I'm sorry to say, we aren't fixing this housing bubble without a crash of historic proportions - a crash that wipes out banks - requiring systemic bailouts. That is where we are in the cycle. It takes on average 18 years from top to bottom - but we are approaching that point where something is going to break.

And as Quint says in Jaws, "it ain't going to be pleasant".

This is going to be a historic crash. Mark my words.

In the medium, to long term, i see this as a good thing - we need this correction and we need to reset towards more productive enterprises rather than simply trading houses between each other - it never works in the long run - and it leads to brutal downturns. Buckle up folks.
I'm not saying that a crash will never happen, but I have been hearing this argument since the year 2000.

Even I expected for a couple of down turns since then but didn't materialize. There was some economist who was so sure a crash was going to happen he famously sold his house and lost a bet to walk all the way to Mt Kosciziuzko. A crash may happen, but to continuously predict a crash to happen and then to turn around and say "I told you so" is akin to a broken clock is even correct twice a day.

The one thing I have learned is that nobody can predict the property market.
 
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I'm not saying that a crash will never happen, but I have been hearing this argument for the since the year 2000.

Even I expected for a couple of down turns since then but didn't materialize. There was some economist who was so sure a crash was going to happen he famously sold his house and lost a bet to walk all the way to Mt Kosciziuzko. A crash may happen, but to continuously predict a crash to happen and the to turn around and say "I told you so" is akin to even a broken clock is correct twice a day.

The one thing I have learned is that nobody can predict the property market.

Fred Harrison is the only economist I know of who predicted the 1990 downturn and the 2008 GFC.

He says what is coming will surpass the 2008 GFC. Make of that what you will.
 
Essentially, a housing bubble reaches a point where both mortgage holders, and renters, start paying an ever increasing amount of their take home pay purely to keeping a roof over their head - that leaves less pay to spend on other facets of the economy - going out to a restaurant for example.

That eventually leads to job losses in the private sector as "for profit" businesses have to close their doors - that is exactly what we are seeing at the moment.

I'm sorry to say, we aren't fixing this housing bubble without a crash of historic proportions - a crash that wipes out banks - requiring systemic bailouts. That is where we are in the cycle. It takes on average 18 years from top to bottom - but we are approaching that point where something is going to break.

And as Quint says in Jaws, "it ain't going to be pleasant".

This is going to be a historic crash. Mark my words.

In the medium, to long term, i see this as a good thing - we need this correction and we need to reset towards more productive enterprises rather than simply trading houses between each other - it never works in the long run - and it leads to brutal downturns. Buckle up folks.
As i mentioned in my first post, i will not ridicule or challenge. My view, there are elements of reality in what outline, the issue i guess for me is statements in isolation.

You need to consider wealth, not just income, also consider the composition of households as a total ith a mortgage and who are genuinely in mortgage stress long term. There is no such thing as markets being timed ie you 18 year cycle... happy to explain if you wish.

I agree with you, the ratio of income to dwelling value is silly at the moment, my strong view, price growth will flatten ,slight decline and maintain over a medium term horizon. Lets hope housing becomes more for housing than an investment class
 
Sydney and Melbourne seem to be among the world property markets international investors like.

It’s not great for people hoping to buy housing in those markets, but it is a factor.
Many more investors have been leaving the Melbourne market than those entering for the last few years.

That is one of the big reasons Melbourne house prices have been stagnant while most of the other states have been increasing massively. The other big reason is interstate migration (more people leaving Melbourne to live in other states rather than the other way around).
 

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Society/Culture The housing crisis. How is it fixed?

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