Yes, well, I have been reading the posts here and none of you seem to
understand what is going on.
The GFC was the first very obvious signpost on the path we are now on.
I suggest that you have a look for Richard Heinberg's book "The End of Growth".
It sets out pretty clearly what the situation is now that governments
are struggling with debt and why they have got into such a mess.

I note that Russia now has a GDP of 0.2%.
Russia is scared that the Europeans will find alternatives to Russian oil & gas.
If Russia cannot sell it at current rates they will have a big recession.

Almost all countries have either low and falling GDP or they are like
Greece and othe European countries struggling to understand why neither
money printing or austerity are having any effect.

The lucky country has lived up to its slogan so far but a major reduction
in mining will really be a problem.

Ultimately, we are all in the same boat.
And the tide is going out !

We could make housing pretty unimportant really if we all claim indigenous status, get a 4 bedroom home from government housing for $100.- a week for life. Cheaper all round don't you think ?

Now there is an idea Individual.
Only catch is didn't Andrew Bolt get dragged into court for suggesting
something like that ?

suggesting something like that ?
Bazz,
Well, we could do away with giving the hypocritical opportunists a reason to bleat racism again by simply changing the term to Australian. Everyone on the electoral roll is Australian & therefore entitled to a home rental for life. Imagine how much this could improve the economy ? The Stae already owns our lives so they might as well own our homes, the difference being we pay less per month, leaving us more money to spent & boost the economy. After all, isn't that what they're after anyway ?

Guys I can remember having a butcher work for me back in the early 80's and each Monday, at 7 o'clock, he used to say, oh well, that's me house paid for. The hourly rate was $7 so his weekly payment was $7. BTW, he was buying his house, not renting it.

My house was costing me $1200 per month to buy at the same time and that's after I paid my then min 30% deposit.

So I'm assuming this scam is continuing generation after generation so one has to wonder if this gravy train will ever run dry.

As for us all getting ridiculously cheap housing, keep dreaming because racisim goes both ways you know.

Last time I looked, buying a house was a choice made by individuals, for their own reasons. It is not, and never should be, a right.

If houses become too expensive, then people will stop buying them. When people stop buying them, prices will come down.

There are more than enough furphies on this topic. This is one of the classics, this time from Incomuicardo:

>>So much of the wealth of the country is now going into real estate, creating exactly the same bubble that occurred in countries such as the US, Ireland, Spain and may very well occur in China<<

It is very, very far from being "exactly the same bubble".

In the US, it was the criminal activities of lenders, who would lend to anyone with a signature, who created the massive exposure to bad debts. When they couldn't keep up payments, the houses were returned to the mortgagor, creating a glut of unsellable properties.

In Ireland, it was the massive influx of EU subsidies that encouraged the building of speculative housing - according to one source, there are currently nearly half a million unoccupied dwellings, enough to soak up natural demand for another forty years. Without another house being built. (Not all are in places where people want them to be, of course; but it does give an idea of the scale of oversupply)

In Spain, five million new housing units were added - that is, a 25% increase - during the years 2000 through 2009 alone. Far more than the market could sustain.

China's property market has already been through two cycles of boom 'n' bust within the last ten years, and probably won't settle down into a more benevolent cycle for a couple more decades.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2014/05/15/is-chinas-housing-bubble-popping/

Classic supply and demand has driven the property crash in all these cases.

Meanwhile, in Australia we have a shortage, not an over-supply, of housing. A fact that will have a greater impact on prices than any amount of tax-tinkering.