RBA on house prices watch...

Reserve on house price watch - The West Australian

If there were any such thing as an economic bubble, which there isn't. Even if there were such a thing, the RBA would be the first to recognise it, of course.

Erm, Australian house prices are some of the most distorted in the entire world. At what level should the RBA start being concerned I wonder?

It would be like stating 'we'll be concerned when fire reaches the Sydney metro Area' when half the state is already in cinders...

Typical nothing-speak with everything said softly with little to no commitment.

Maybe the concern should have happened when land prices were increasing 100% in a year as they did in some areas as the bubble inflated?

They are talking about shutting the gate well after the horse has bolted.

correction: they are talking about shutting the gate when the horse has already bolted, lived a full fulfilling life, had kids and died while the gate has rusted over and disintegrated.

Looking back Matt, I'd say the reason for this is because the policy makers of that period were too busy managing their own portfolio to notice.

The former affordability minister Matt Brown is a classic case in point on how corrupt the system is in it's neglect to properly manage senior policy makers in terms of Duty of Care and a gross conflict of interest.

How on earth is it even remotely possible that a housing minister for NSW can be allowed to dictate policy when owning FOURTEEN INVESTMENT PROPERTIES of his own?

Just how many of our policy makers in Canberra are in a similar boat, with a strong vested personal interest in maintaining the current environment out of self interest, to the detriment of average working class Australians?

Kevin Rudd and his cabinet are hell bent on not only emptying the national coffers to keep this asset bubble afloat, but also bring our nation into serious, long term debt as well.

Isn't it about time we had a royal commission into this disaster?

Where is the Governer General on this matter?

Our own parliament is ignoring UN saction in regards to worsening human rights on the issue and NO ONE seems to care!

Our country's sovereignty is under attack from within our own ranks and all we can do is post angry messages on forums and the occasional investment spruiking article in mainstream media?!

Who is policing these people who are destroying our national values for the sake of a minority of greedy, vested interests?!

:lol: thats brilliant Nathan!

__________________
Gold may be a barbarous relic, but in barbarous monetary times, relics do well. Steve Keen
Because Australia suffers from quite acute housing shortages we shouldn't expect to see any significant falls in prices. Chris Joye June 2010
My investment company: www.empireinvesting.com.au
Find me at MacroBusiness

Everybody is happy when a Ponzi scheme is expanding.

Homeowners become wealthier without the annoyance of having to do any work.

The government gets increased property tax / capital gains tax without having to make policy.

The reserve bank gets to keep inflation 'low', as house prices are not included in the figures.

Banks make a fortune without having to invest wisely.


It's all fun until the music stops.

Well with 1/3 of the Nation's population NOT paying off a property or owning outright would indicate there are a LOT of people out there who are very unhappy with this situation. You only have to read any public comments section in the media loosely related to the issue of affordability to see the sentiment as a strongly growing tide.

The problem here is the role of democracy in such a situation. As long as the voting demographic is a minority standing, it would seem any policy is acceptable.

I point out again that the United Nations lodged a scathing report on declining affordability standards in 2006 against Australia in direct contradiction of international human rights law (And yes, contrary to popular investor belief, affordable housing IS a human right as agreed to under international law!) and since then, affordability has done nothing but sunk to new lows to the current state that it is now.

Why is the government neglecting it's role in terms of duty of care to maintaining the rights of a full one third of it's population?

The simple answer is politics. In order to satisfy it's obligation in this regard, it would have to introduce policy to devalue the current market and this is political suicide.

So in short, the government chose the former option, handing out free money to meet it's so called obligation to affordability (which actually made the problem worse) in a very poor attempt to satisfy all parties.

The Government should be called to account and certainly hauled before the UN to explain their actions in this regard with appropriate action taken.

But no one is enforcing this. Not the Governor General. Not the UN. No international political pressure. Nothing!