Episode Details

Today we ask a question almost no one in property likes to touch - not "will housing prices keep rising?" but "how expensive do we actually want housing to be?"

For decades we've celebrated rising house prices in Australia. If your home was worth more this year than last, life felt a bit easier. Politicians were happy, banks were happy, homeowners were happy.

But after 50 years of almost uninterrupted price growth, we need to ask a harder question: Is it actually good for us if housing just keeps getting more expensive?

The answer, of course, depends on who you are.

Because rising prices have created a lot of winners in Australia: homeowners, investors, banks, governments, tradies, retailers.

But they've also created a growing group of losers - renters, younger Australians, essential workers, small businesses, and even the future middle class.

Takeaways

· Rising house prices benefit homeowners, investors, and banks.

· First home buyers and renters are the primary losers in the housing market.

· The middle class is at risk due to increasing housing costs.

· Government policies often favor rising house prices over affordability.

· The housing market is influenced by political choices, not just market forces.

· Younger generations are becoming a significant voting block for housing issues.

· Sustainable growth in property values is preferable to boom-and-bust cycles.

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