Well put. An excellent piece.

Yes, an excellent piece thanks Valerie. The driving force behind higher prices, of course, is rapid population growth. No surprise then that the housing industry has failed to keep pace in supplying new homes, pushing up prices. High home prices that demand two incomes to pay the mortgage have huge social implications, not least for young children. There are environmental costs as well, as urban expansion covers ever more habitat of other species, or farmland that we need to feed people. At some stage, the growth has to stop. The sooner the better.

As always Valarie, the peerless personification of perspicacious perspicuity!
Rhrosty.

unfortunately, Ms Yule doesn't have a lot to say about public housing.
and it's unfortunate that public housing was such a low priority during the Howard years, when there was one budget surplus after another.
if it weren't for the Housing Trust of South Australia in 1983 and the timely advice of Mr Jack Richards, mayor of Norwood, I would have been not only unemployed but homeless for many years, but a roof over my head helped me find work and eventually a career, and later, marriage.

Years ago a friend who was a Commonweath Bank Loans officer warned
this situation would develop when the government gave in to the
sisterhoods demand that lending aithorities had to take into account
both incomes.
Just as he warned the developers and builders escalated the price of
housing to match the amount of money in the market.
The women had no choice but to go to work.
Now child care becomes a problem
Subsidise it !
First home buyer grants; two more opertunities to increase the prices.

We have not learnt the US lesson.
In 2007 the average working man had a choice;
Buy food
Buy petrol to go to work
or pay the mortgage

So by 2008 so many had defaulted on their mortgages that the banks
collapsed and the GFC arrived and the rest is history.

We are now in that dodgy state ourselves this time and instead of
$20billion in the bank we have $100s of billions of debt.

Big tip, start getting rid of any debt you may have quickly.

"all the staff of one well-known real estate manager have Chinese or Vietnamese names"

I think that makes you a racist Val. Maybe you would prefer it if they all had nice English surnames, blue eyes and blond hair. Hmm, that sounds familiar.