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The Aussie dream one of the most expensive
The ninth annual Demographia survey of house prices across the world was published this week. It again shows Australian house prices, adjusted for...
Government chips away at planning controls
House prices are off the boil. In Victoria they fell two per cent last year. Interest rates have been declining and compared to two years ago it...
Housing affordability key to northern growth
Northern Australia is suffering a housing affordability crisis. But it doesn't need to be this way. Recent media reports confirm this crisis. It...
Our building regulations need a major overhaul
How many separate approvals are required before an owner can move into a new house in Melbourne's designated urban growth area? Twenty? Fifty?...
Ownership and exclusion: a lesson from the UK riots
Many commentators correctly attribute the UK rioting to decades of misgoverning and miseducating youth. Contributing to this has been the breakdown...
Access to land the root of soaring house prices
In 2004, a report by the Commonwealth's normally reliable Productivity Commission (PC) completely misread the causes of high house prices. It...
Government red tape puts us in house bind
According to the English humourist Auberon Waugh, the urge to pass new laws must be seen as an illness, not much different from the urge to bite...
Houston, we have a housing problem
Adding up everything we own, the Government Statistician reckons Australian families are worth $5800 billion. That's more than five times as much...
Surely the election can afford debate on housing
As a concern among the electorate, housing affordability ranks above industrial relations, interest rates and asylum seekers. But until yesterday,...
Let society shape itself
It's hard not to be cynical. Especially when a developer lobby claims giving the government power to force people to sell their homes - to...