On the 'most expensive country' topic, there were some retarded headlines a few months ago in the mainstream press claiming Oz was the 2nd most expensive in the world based on BIS data, but when you actually looked at the data what it really said was that Oz price ratios had diverged 2nd most relative to historic ratios (out of a group of 20 odd countries surveyed). It certainly didn't cover the whole planet and it didn't actually compared Australian prices with prices in other countries - it just measured relative deviation from a long term average for about 20 countries. But typical MSM sensationalism incorrectly reported this as "Oz House Prices 2nd Highest In The World Shock Horror' and the headlines obviously sucked in a lot of daft bears who now treat it as gospel truth!
1. Do you think Australian residential real estate prices are in a bubble?
No
2. What do you propose as measures to improve Australian housing affordability?
Affordable housing is a myth.
3. Over what timeframe do you think this affordability could be improved?
See 2.
4. Do you think that renting is more expensive or cheaper than buying where a large mortgage is involved?
Its cheaper for the first few years only.
5. Do you agree/disagree that the concessions for Australian real estate – Negative gearing, capital gains tax concessions in particular – are an effective use of Australian tax policy. Do you believe they help promote development of a better economy?
Tax is a mugs game and therefore there is nothing wrong with the current arrangements.
6. Do you agree/disagree that the concessions for Australian real estate disproportionately benefit older Australians with more assets?
no
7. What would you advise people thinking about buying now to do? take as big a loan as they think they can reasonably afford and plough it into a house, or save up?
Get into as much debt as early and safely as you can.
8. Would you agree if they bought now they would be paying off someone elses speculative position?
No they would be setting themselves up for a better financial position.
9. In what context would you advise people against buying now?
None.
10. Do you think not addressing Australia’s real estate costs is a factor in Australia’s economic competitive position?
There is nothing to address.
11. Do you think lowering interest rates to prompt an expansion of aggregate demand will expand aggregate demand by more or less than it rewards those with a position speculating on rising asset prices?
No its all about saving the banks.
12. Do you think the Foreign Investment Review Board adequately monitors applications made by foreign nationals to buy existing Australian residential real estate?
Its a bit of a non event there should be no restrictions on anyone buying.
13. Do you think Austrac adequately monitors funds originating offshore coming into Australia to ensure the traceable probity and provenance of those funds?
I have heard that they do for transactions over $10k but not sure if they do but to me its all about the free market so we should abolish Austrac.
On the 'most expensive country' topic, there were some retarded headlines a few months ago in the mainstream press claiming Oz was the 2nd most expensive in the world based on BIS data, but when you actually looked at the data what it really said was that Oz price ratios had diverged 2nd most relative to historic ratios (out of a group of 20 odd countries surveyed). It certainly didn't cover the whole planet and it didn't actually compared Australian prices with prices in other countries - it just measured relative deviation from a long term average for about 20 countries. But typical MSM sensationalism incorrectly reported this as "Oz House Prices 2nd Highest In The World Shock Horror' and the headlines obviously sucked in a lot of daft bears who now treat it as gospel truth!
That's very interesting if accurate
I'd be keen to here more on people's thoughts on that... I'm not sure where my other comment disappeared to though
The number one Australian economic blunder of recent times has been the failure to understand the real position of the economy post-GFC, largely by confusing structure and cycle.
The second coming of the mining boom from 2009 t0 2011 was interpreted by virtually all Australian authorities as a structural shift in the patterns of global demand. The rise of China made this partly true which is why Australia’s terms of trade will likely remain high relative to modern history.
But it was far less true than was assumed. The post-GFC China boom was in very large part just another business cycle, a boom and a bust. In retrospect the cycle will be seen as nothing more than a temporary uber-stimulus by China that actually marked the end not the beginning of its high-growth, high-commodity intensive period.
This fateful misinterpretation led Australia’s elite to embrace a high currency as the principle mechanism for management of the excesses of the mining boom. The refrains “making room for mining” and “sell them dirt” we all remember so well only made sense if the boom was permanent, which it is manifestly proving not to be.
This disaster could only have come about due to the highly centralised (i.e. monopolised) nature of the Australian polity. Had Australians not made the catastrophic error of federating in 1901 this problem would not exist.
Imagine if Australia – instead of embarking on centralism – had adopted something like the pre-Euro European Union.
Western Australia and Queensland would have had periodic commodity booms. Their currencies would have gone up and down, but the non-resource “countries” would have been largely immune.
Victoria would not have – literally could not have – embarked upon the disastrous post-war policy of industry protection. Its own economy would not have sustained such an allocatively inefficient policy. It might still have had manufacturing, made competitive by a cheaper “Victorian dollar” but it could not have protected chronically inefficient firms.
Sydney would not have – literally could not have – embarked upon the disastrous fantasy of turning itself into an “international financial hub”. Its own economy would not have sustained such an allocatively inefficient policy.
Centralism – like all monopolisation – is allocatively inefficient. Like all monopolisation it encourages and facilitates rent-seeking. (It may promote “internal efficiency” through the removal of duplication and some border issues, but these can be largely achieved anyway through confederal structures like the pre-Euro EU.)
Centralism and rent-seeking (and opposition to genuine democracy) all go hand-in-hand. They all involve the “few” exploiting the “many”.
To sustain that it is essential that the “many” have no effective recourse. Hence the opposition to any form of genuinely democratic government.
To sustain it over time it is essential to have as large an economic entity as possible to put off the dreadful day when it all collapses under the weight of its own allocative inefficiency.
Until Australia addresses its fundamental problems – monopolisation of its polity and the lack of any form of genuinely democratic government – things can only go from bad to worse.
Until Australia addresses its fundamental problems – monopolisation of its polity and the lack of any form of genuinely democratic government – things can only go from bad to worse.
Stephen, I think it's highly misleading of you to suggest we don't have any form of genuinely democratic government. What would you propose we do? Should we have citizen-initiated referenda on every single issue? We'd spend every other Saturday queued-up at the polling booths. We have to delegate a lot of decision-making to government if only for practical reasons.
Australian Property Forum is an economics and finance forum dedicated to discussion of Australian and global real estate markets and macroeconomics, including house prices, housing affordability, and the likelihood of a property crash. Is there an Australian housing bubble? Will house prices crash, boom or stagnate? Is the Australian property market a pyramid scheme or Ponzi scheme? Can house prices really rise forever? These are the questions we address on Australian Property Forum, the premier real estate site for property bears, bulls, investors, and speculators. Members may also discuss matters related to finance, modern monetary theory (MMT), debt deflation, cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin Ethereum and Ripple, property investing, landlords, tenants, debt consolidation, reverse home equity loans, the housing shortage, negative gearing, capital gains tax, land tax and macro prudential regulation.
Forum Rules:
The main forum may be used to discuss property, politics, economics and finance, precious metals, crypto currency, debt management, generational divides, climate change, sustainability, alternative energy, environmental topics, human rights or social justice issues, and other topics on a case by case basis. Topics unsuitable for the main forum may be discussed in the lounge. You agree you won't use this forum to post material that is illegal, private, defamatory, pornographic, excessively abusive or profane, threatening, or invasive of another forum member's privacy. Don't post NSFW content. Racist or ethnic slurs and homophobic comments aren't tolerated. Accusing forum members of serious crimes is not permitted. Accusations, attacks, abuse or threats, litigious or otherwise, directed against the forum or forum administrators aren't tolerated and will result in immediate suspension of your account for a number of days depending on the severity of the attack. No spamming or advertising in the main forum. Spamming includes repeating the same message over and over again within a short period of time. Don't post ALL CAPS thread titles. The Advertising and Promotion Subforum may be used to promote your Australian property related business or service. Active members of the forum who contribute regularly to main forum discussions may also include a link to their product or service in their signature block. Members are limited to one actively posting account each. A secondary account may be used solely for the purpose of maintaining a blog as long as that account no longer posts in threads. Any member who believes another member has violated these rules may report the offending post using the report button.
Australian Property Forum complies with ASIC Regulatory Guide 162 regarding Internet Discussion Sites. Australian Property Forum is not a provider of financial advice. Australian Property Forum does not in any way endorse the views and opinions of its members, nor does it vouch for for the accuracy or authenticity of their posts. It is not permitted for any Australian Property Forum member to post in the role of a licensed financial advisor or to post as the representative of a financial advisor. It is not permitted for Australian Property Forum members to ask for or offer specific buy, sell or hold recommendations on particular stocks, as a response to a request of this nature may be considered the provision of financial advice.
Views expressed on this forum are not representative of the forum owners. The forum owners are not liable or responsible for comments posted. Information posted does not constitute financial or legal advice. The forum owners accept no liability for information posted, nor for consequences of actions taken on the basis of that information. By visiting or using this forum, members and guests agree to be bound by the Zetaboards Terms of Use.
This site may contain copyright material (i.e. attributed snippets from online news reports), the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. Such content is posted to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democratic, scientific, and social justice issues. This constitutes 'fair use' of such copyright material as provided for in section 107 of US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed for research and educational purposes only. If you wish to use this material for purposes that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. Such material is credited to the true owner or licensee. We will remove from the forum any such material upon the request of the owners of the copyright of said material, as we claim no credit for such material.
Privacy Policy: Australian Property Forum uses third party advertising companies to serve ads when you visit our site. These third party advertising companies may collect and use information about your visits to Australian Property Forum as well as other web sites in order to provide advertisements about goods and services of interest to you. If you would like more information about this practice and to know your choices about not having this information used by these companies, click here: Google Advertising Privacy FAQ
Australian Property Forum is hosted by Zetaboards. Please refer also to the Zetaboards Privacy Policy