unbalanced zealot wrote:It's a good thing for Hockey that the LNP is only up against an ALP with Bill Shorten up front.
Absolutely. If there is someone I hate seeing on TV as much as Joe Hockey, it is Bill Shorten. I cannot imagine the Australian public finding his whininess in any way endearing.
taxizen wrote:The best advice for those wanting to buy a house in an area afflicted with a property price bubble is DON'T (even if you can afford it). Instead: rent, camp, live in a caravan, move far away or squat but don't buy or you will be burned when it pops (as all asset bubbles do). After the bubble pops you can buy at the bottom, if you time it right, and get a bargain (asset bubble crashes usually drop below the mean price before returning to the mean price).
I'm not sure that this particular asset bubble will crash, however. I think that house price rises in Sydney are predominantly fuelled by immigration, which I don't see slowing down in the near future.
taxizen wrote:The best advice to governors responsible enough to be interested in preventing property bubbles forming and correcting them from getting even more silly once they have already started inflating is:
1. Ensure that whatever legal hurdles must be crossed in order to build are not too lengthy, inscrutable or expensive which helps prevent supply bottlenecks.
2. Ensure that any taxes or fees levied on property ownership have NO exemptions for idle properties to discourage the hoarding of unused properties and those buying properties only for a speculative capital gain and this helps prevent irrational demand.
Glenn Stevens doesn't have power to do any of this. The supply issue, if any, is worsened by local councils and green advocacy groups in the city who hate high-rises. There are land taxes to deter idle properties but apartments are largely exempt.