House prices are falling in Australia. That’s a good thing – if you believe housing is a basic human need | Saul Eslake

Labor’s budget changes are not to blame for the recent dip in property prices. But the changes will help move housing away from investors – and that should be celebrated House prices in Sydney and Melbourne are down by 3.1% and 3.5% respectively, from their most recent peaks, according to the latest data from Cotality . Across Australia as a whole, house prices didn’t rise last month, the first time that has happened since January 2023. And the annual rate of house price inflation dropped to 9.5% from a most recent peak of 10.9% over the year to February. If these reports were about any of the other 86 classes of goods and services into which Australia’s consumer price index is divided, they would be greeted with universal approbation, and the government would be claiming credit for “easing cost-of-living pressures”. Continue reading...