<humour>

Foundation has done us a great service in pointing out the insidious link between cane toads, house prices and immigration. But get this:

Since women got the vote, we've had two World Wars!

Now, what does that tell you?

</humour>

Mr Bartlett, vis a vis Andrew

When you go to Mr Chipp's funeral - let him know that I voted for his new party a couple of times, and let him know that he will be sadly missed.

With sadness
Kay

So PK says that the price of housing like other commodities is not primarily related to supply and demand?Well PK our seemingly most knowledgable economist,why did the price of oil go up recently?

Really, PK must be one of these bureaucrats whose logic tries to defy the law of gravity because they are too afraid of losing their status,perchance reality decends upon them.Bureaucrats remember,don't loose their jobs,they just ascend to a higher level of incompetence.

This is why NSW is in such a mess.

Narcissist, you are confusing two concepts.

>>Housing (or more correctly Shelter) is a fundamental human "need". It therefore has what an economist would call a low-elasticity in demand (like cigarettes to a smoker - price increases dont necessarily affect the demand significantly).<<

Shelter is a fundamental need. Housing on the other hand is a lifestyle choice, dictated by our ability to pay.

The major factor in demand elasticity is substitution: a humpy in Birdsville is not a substitute for a Toorak mansion, so the demand curve for shelter is entirely different to that for housing. They are totally different markets.

If the government were to address the homeless problem by providing every sufferer with shelter, free of charge, it will have absolutely no impact on the price of a house in Elizabeth Bay, Doncaster or Broome. No new money has entered or left the housing system, and the accommodation built for the purpose of shelter for the homeless does not add to the stock of property-for-sale.

Once more, with feeling: do not conflate the property market with the welfare system.

OK, Arjay - let's just accept your argument that it is ONLY a matter of simple supply and demand - I was trying to argue that other factors can affect the price more - just explain why it appears there is a land shortage around the fringes of Sydney (according I believe to your earlier post, as a result of NSW government policy), yet the price of houses in these areas has been falling for the past 2 years or so?

Mercurius, you are obviously a coward, with a low opinion of women.
You don't believe women will be able to judge your post as humor.
Then you are afraid of the response of those women, even when they don't know who you are.