Sociologists know what conditions make it more likely a mass delusion will take hold and spread through a group – whether adherence to a fashion fad or belief in a doomsday cult.
It’s hard to get a fix on where Australia’s economy is headed.
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Housing experts writing for The Conversation largely agree on the government policies that are causing negative distortions in the market and the wider economy. And supply is not the key concern.
Rapid rise of Australian house prices have created disagreement between economists on whether a housing bubble currently exists.
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Ballooning borrowing to invest in the housing market is impeding investment in the real economy, holding back investment in skills and jobs, and driving up inequality.
Federal governments have traditionally struggled to develop a coherent view for our cities.
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For the first time, both major parties have a cities portfolio in their front bench team. With a few more changes, the government could create a structure that will really get to grips with urban issues.
The current emphasis on the investor housing boom masks a long-neglected, Iong-term structural problem.
AAP/Paul Miller
Housing affordability, high house prices and rents are attracting plenty of media attention right now. The latest figures on house prices, mortgages, number of first time buyers and so on are dissected…
Joe Hockey has been defended by Prime Minister Tony Abbott – again.
AAP/Dean Lewins
In trying to help a colleague out of a hole, there’s always the danger of slipping into one yourself. Shoring up Joe Hockey after the treasurer’s advice to young homebuyers to get a good job, Tony Abbott…
“Stickers” find themselves caught in unaffordable housing.
Author provided
While policies such as negative gearing have helped middle to high income earners own property, they have also locked low income earners out of the market and created an unequal housing sector.
Australia needs look at inclusionary housing policies to boost the number of affordable housing options.
AAP/Joel Carrett
Australia’s residential house prices rank among the highest in the world, and an increasing number of aspiring home owners are finding themselves locked out of the property market. While low interest rates…
Who needs a big garden when you’ve got this?
The Tiny Abode Co.
A small group of people is gathered around a campfire in a Victorian State Forest. Members of the Tiny Houses Australia community, they’re attending a Spring Camp to talk about how to build a tiny house…
The notion that Chinese buyers are pushing up house prices is a “zombie idea”
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Despite valiant efforts by commentators such as Bernard Keane and Michael Pascoe to slay claims that Chinese buyers are making it harder for ordinary Australians to enter the housing market, the notion…
Is our thinking on house prices blurred by irrationality?
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The latest house price index figures released by RP Data earlier this week show a year-on-year increase in property values in Sydney of 14.3%. This has sparked the current hot debate on property prices…
Should housing policy and tax reform be driven by pricey Sydney housing?
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The perennial debate about negative gearing of residential property investments has been reignited yet again, by two reports in the past week. The International Monetary Fund has nominated taxes on housing…
Dealing with housing bubbles can get messy for central banks.
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Australia’s central bank has formally flagged the use of macroprudential tools to address what it called “unbalanced” lending in its most recent Financial Stability Review. Loan-to-valuation ratio (LVR…