I bet you was too busy boating

Now how would you have know that?

BB

Fringe prices out of reach

What a sad feeling reading comments of these people who are being strangulated by this rampant bubble. Single moms, single income families - their home-buying dreams are shattered as even the outermost suburbs / notorious suburbs are out of reach now. Wonder how many sighs (or cries) will it take before govt takes action?

...and the suggested government action would be ?

Providing social housing springs to mind as a potential option.

Give more grants and tax relief so vendors can ask for even higher prices

It would help if agents stopped wasting people's time and money by underquoting. There are laws but who polices them. Some people pay for inspections of properties they are interested in only to find out at the auction they are not even in the ball park. I am glad that property is being passed in I hate auctions, they are so false.

I know people who live in the inner suburbs and they never bid, they wait and see what happens and then if its in their range deal with the vendor after the auction.

My friend's daughter did just that recently buying and apartment $50,000 less.

At least in the outer areas people have a better idea of the price although they are still not quoting what a vendor actually wants.

Social housing is being developed but no longer in estates, its spot bought. My friend's daughter lived in St Kilda East before she moved and the housing commission owned two of the units in her block. So be aware if you are buying units some may be owned by commission, if this is a worry for you.

The Commission also spot buys houses and spot builds and in some new estates they have to let so many blocks go to social housing.

Well - help the needy and tax the greedy. Current policies are pro-investor policies and unfair towards average Joe Bloggs (majority of local population).

Rorts like -ve gearing, tax benefits given to investors, etc should be banned.

Investor stamp duty should grow exponentially on every next purchase they make. Currently its flat which is the major cause of housing affordability crisis.

I read Australian property forums where the pros flaunt that each of them own 10 to few hundred properties and keep on adding to their portfolio. This is pure captialism - where 1% of the people own 50% of the houses.

I would consider negative gearing to be the single biggest contributor to the problem.
However, it will take a government with big balls to put a stop to it, or at least restrict its scope.
Keating attempted to do this in 1985 (as part of a broader tax reform package), but the old rules were brought back in '87 after intensive lobbying by the property industry.

Unfortunately, rhetoric on this forum will not achieve any outcome MP.
If you want action, you need to get out there and do something about it.

My activist days are over. Two young kids leaves me with little/no free time to get out there anymore.

Off your bum now and get out on the street !

Should this also be applied to other investments eg shares or antiques? Their price also increases when more people invest.

BB

I am a guest in this nation and got no say, action lies with those who are suffering since long and will continue to suffer as a consequence of ridiculous prices. Its a shame how 'rich' section of the society can influence lawmakers to turn the tide in their favour and half of the population pays for it.

Mature govt. laws should not allow accumulation of wealth merely via luck and opportunity e.g. gambling wins, quick increase in stock and property prices.

Mature govt. laws should not allow attraction of wealth through wealth. Thats when rich keep on getting rich. Thats how property investors here hoard a heap of properties and Taxi depot owners hoard a fleet of taxis.

Laws should allow wealth to be accumulated through hard work, skills and virtues - not through pimping and manipulation.

Come now MP, you know that is not true. Of course you have a say. Just because you cannot yet vote does not mean you have no voice.
You could look to Mohandas Gandhi as a good example of inspiration.
Look at the accomplishments he achieved.

From your repeated social commentaries on this housing issue, it is clear you are passionate about it at quite an emotional level. That is good. Having that passion is half the battle to getting something done.

However, if you honestly feel that you are only a 'guest' in this country, then you need to just accept the status quo. It is not possible to have it both ways.

In the words of Edmund Burke, "All that is required for evil to prevail is for good men to do nothing."

....or put with less tact using the more common vernacular, "either put up or shut up !"

I think the public has read my thread and they are uniting online against the outrageous prices.

Online campaign targets high cost of housing

We have seen dictators brought down, triggered through online protests. Ideas sprawled over BE forum matter

all 3,700 of them, hehehe. Not exactly dictator toppling numbers

I suspect it'll be a long time before you see communism in Aus.

And it's doomed to failure from the start. Communism doesn't alleviate suffering it just destroys the wealth of everyone.