So basically when prices go up for rent etc its the fault of population. No mention of supply problems vis a vis land. No mention of vacant business premises either.

When interest rates go up --- the author blames population.

Its all just a bit too simplistic and childish for my liking.

Land supply problems are directly related to growing populations. That is where the demand is coming from.

I tend to agree with the SPA and the findings of the Australian Academy of Science that the upper limit of Australian population in terms of carrying capacity is about 24M give or take a couple of million up to 26M to allow for flexibility and movement in and out of Australia.

Small business are struggling with the rising costs of rents facing a loss of income while different pressures keep prices down in some sectors eg. competition with large bulk stores who can purchase in bulk and in some cases receive lower rents in shopping centres to attract customers.

Unchecked population growth is unsustainable - there has to be a limit to what land can reasonably carry before the pressure points burst.

I would agree that increasing population is senseless and will do nothing towards improving quality of life in Australia.

However, I would think that house prices will continue to increase even with a stable population, and this is because of the number of single person household. About 1 in 4 households are now single person households and increasing.

Single person households increase demand for new housing even in towns with a stable population. They also increase the need for more infrastructures, more roads, more electricity and more water.

We have a culture of divorce, and in some towns, almost 70% of real estate transactions are now a result of divorce, which also impacts severely on family assets and family finances.

Everyone is paying for it.

vanna
The incidence of divorce has increased for sure and probably puts short term pressure on housing but mainly in the rental market going by the experience of some of my friends and colleagues.

However, most divorcees usually remarry or end up in defacto relationships so it is a fluctuating influence I would think and would not have a big impact on the demand over time. It would be interesting to know how many people remain single permanently after a divorce. I would expect more would remarry or end up in defacto relationships.

Pelican,
Currently 1 in 4 households is a single person household and the number is increasing, mainly due to divorce and also due to people not getting married at all.

De-facto relationships are normally short lived, and second marriages normally end in divorce.

Go to any town with a stable population, and look for the number of new suburbs.

at 18 my boy brought a home, has traveled and lives at a much higher standard of living than I could of dreamed of at that age. Population increase had proven a huge plus for him and most others.