I find it odd that so much attention is given to the supply side of housing and so little to the demand side.

Why worry about regulation affecting supply when there are, in my opinion, more important issues in play?

Issues affecting the demand side include (in no particular order):

population growth including immigration
foreign investment (including from Chinese investors anxious to get capital out of China even at a loss)
our generous system of CGT
the taxation advantages of negative gearing

The solutions to each of the above are obvious and have been well canvassed but I would add another - the reintroduction of rent controls (yes, regulation). Rent control would reduce investor and speculator investment in housing. Investment would/could then be re-directed into more productive (hopefully) activities than housing.

Disclaimer:

I own outright (no negative gearing) a basic house in inner Sydney. It has been appreciating at a rate way, way beyond what the great majority of people could save towards a house even with two people working. This is madness.

It is not just housing that is expensive in Australia: it is everything. Australia is now a very expensive place to live and, as already mentioned, made so in no small way by the high immigration of unproductive people. Very soon, the so-called refugees coming here purely for our welfare payments will have to find cheaper countries or stay where they are. The locals will have to try to get decent people in government who know what they are doing, unlike the current shower of idiots.

Lawson,

That is cherry picking. There are many investors whose properties have lost value,

"Property investors lose 50pc in Qld mining towns"
http://www.afr.com/real-estate/property-investors-lose-50pc-in-qld-mining-towns-20160302-gn8qv9

Thousands of home owners and landlords 'doing it easy',

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-03-29/cyclone-debbie-aftermath-gallery/8395494

Investment property is very long term and high risk for all sorts of reasons. The REA was telling me that a house I previously owned, which was bought by a couple as their superannuation, has been trashed several times since it was sold. That was despite professional management. It is now vacant without income while the police court case involving tenants (some who can't be found) and certain drugs is progressed. Later, the expensive chemical clean-up is to be done and health safety certified. Insurance will cover it? Nonsense, and the bank must still be paid.

The REA was asking if we wanted to buy it back? Investment property? Not on your Nellie!

You want to add rent control to the mix. LOL

I feel so sorry for elderly people and families who are being forced out of their family homes of a lifetime by costs such as increased rates from inflated council land valuations.

Valuations don't have much effect on rates leoj, unless you have a very large discrepancy in values through a council area. This is one disadvantage of amalgamating councils, as it leads big differences in prices.

After valuations are set a council then sets its rate in the dollar to get the amount of money they want to play with.

Council rates are one of the most rapidly increasing price in the country, way above inflation, only rivalled by electricity prices.

Progresive Pat, while i have not yet read the article, are you aware of the importance exports are to our nation?

Are you also aware that many trading partners export to us because they choose to, while we on the other hand export to them because we have to.

There is no easy fix to housing affordability in this country, and wages are likely to go down moving forward simply because big business is now gun shy here, one reason being our ridiculous green energy targets making energy costs unaffordable.

Combine this with the tax witch hunt for multinationals and the result is going to be very painful indeed.

My prediction is that houses will become affordable, but few will have the capacity to borrow for them in five to ten years, mainly due to a huge increase in insecure jobs and/or increased under employment.

The ONLY way to tackle issues like housing affordabillity and the environment is to make our economy a prosperous one and our current path of closing the door to big business and closing affordable power stations in far south of what is required. Of cause it doesn't help when a government wastes so much as Labor did and created a financial mine field like the boat people debacle.

The only way to get out of the hole we are in is to become a major exporter of our key asset, our resources. But our governments have lost their nerve and would rather tax corporations than encourage them.

CSG is the next with its head on the chopping block if attitudes dont change.