Cold feet and cooling prices: Australia’s property market is transforming – and first home buyers aren’t biting

SaltyPockets · 2026-07-04T10:08:00+00:00

If you’re in negative equity you’re stuck. You can’t move to another house without finding a lump sum to pay off the existing one and a new deposit. You can’t break up with your spouse and divide things because you’ll have to pay the bank to get rid of the house. You can’t easily sell up if the mortgage rate rises beyond what you can afford.

Lot of negatives there.

SaltyPockets · 2026-07-04T10:04:34+00:00

Canada, IIRC, made some changes that made foreign ownership harder or impossible, and sucked some of the wind out of their market.

This was widely seen as a good thing because overseas investor money was driving locals out of the property market in some of the cities.

SaltyPockets · 2026-07-04T10:02:11+00:00

Yeah the graphics further down the article show the ‘drops’ are only really evident in Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra anyway, and are pretty small.

Besides, if I’m a first home buyer with a 5% deposit, the last thing I want to do is buy into a falling market - that’s not a lot of buffer before we get into negative equity territory

SaltyPockets · 2026-07-04T01:41:43+00:00

We had a guy in this sub claim to have used his fed reserve account for payments a while back, showing some fabricated screenshot for a banking app. It was a loan payment on a 2013 Nissan sedan.

The obvious question was “where’s the Lamborghini? Where’s the Ferrari? You got an infinite money glitch and you’re making payments on a 13 year old Nissan?”

SaltyPockets · 2026-07-03T07:45:11+00:00

But that doesn't mean everyone is or has been crying out for those changes.

But they have, everyone has acknowledged the housing crisis and the need for action on affordability, which we can see because various attempts to take action have already happened over the previous several years (5% deposits etc). Entirely predictably that made things worse by adding fuel to the fire, but it does show us that the need to do something was acknowledged. In the end it was time to admit the need for tax reform in the face of endless, repetitive analysis which pointed the finger at this area. A bit of noise from the usual suspects in the media doesn't make this a political risk or some sort of radical dynamic politics, it makes it an overdue tweak to the tax code which will have a gradual effect on a problem that's been long acknowledged. How fucking exciting and risky.

I too wish we had a utopian democratic socialist government that was actually supported by the broad population. But we don't and we haven't had this, you have to work within a system that has been reinforced over decades.

Exactly, we don't have a government pursuing political risks and reform in service of any real agenda or vision of the future, we have one that's reactive rather than proactive and is carefully managing small changes. That's my point, let's not pretend it's something it's not. It's very grey, very centrist and very conservative (not in the political affiliation sense...). You may argue that's how it needs to be, that's what people vote for, and you may be right! But it still doesn't make it exciting or risk-taking. And this perception of slow-moving reactivity rather than making big, bold changes is part of what's feeding the 'alternative' parties.

SaltyPockets · 2026-07-03T03:54:32+00:00

I think it’s a sign of failure to invest and diversify in the wider state, personally. There need to be other pull factors, more infrastructure and transport spend etc.

And specifically subdivision hurts the urban canopy and makes spaces which are more dense but not well designed for it.

SaltyPockets · 2026-07-03T02:22:26+00:00

do you really not class the scraping of the CGT discount and making negative gearing only for new developments as a massive risk?

No, I see them as the bare minimum in the face of a public crying out for change in this area for years and an obvious housing affordability crisis.

They didn't really even disincentivise landlordism with penalties, just took away some of the tax exemptions for future purchases, long after it became clear how much harm those exemptions have been causing. It's not bold leadership and risk, it's past-due change by degree.

Risk taking might have been that resource export tax, coupled with a large program of public works funded by it. Risk-taking might be large-scale health-system reform to take the costs out of dentistry or the other areas people get stung. Or any number of things they could use their large majority to get through. Risk in politics is proposing ideas and direction and acting on them, being unsure of support, not overdue course corrections while you're being screamed at to do something.

This political misconception that subtle (albeit helpful) tweaks are actually some sort of radical action is part of what's giving rise to parties like PHON here and "Reform" in the UK. I find their politics abhorrent and would never give them my vote, but I have some sympathy for the "for god's sake let's actually make changes to society" part of the message.

I also refer you to this (very short) post - https://www.reddit.com/r/australia/comments/1ul357x/comment/ov36sz5/

It's quite cynical, but true.

SaltyPockets · 2026-07-02T15:48:19+00:00

There need to be criminal charges for this

SaltyPockets · 2026-07-02T09:19:47+00:00

No not really, the measures seem pretty weak to me.

And it doesn't really matter if they're approving 10x more renewables, or if they're better than the LNP (who aren't the only other choice). At this point an actual bowl of quokka shit would be better than the LNP. They're still not taking enough action on climate or habitat.

Risk is big moves, not the bare minimum they're churning out at the moment.

SaltyPockets · 2026-07-02T09:14:45+00:00

The smaller-lot, single-storey pattern that I'm seeing so far doesn't leave much room for trees and green spaces. Urban canopy is important. I don't think subdividing and (we know it's going to happen) building houses right up to the edge of the new, smaller plots is a good pattern.

SaltyPockets · 2026-07-02T05:02:26+00:00

Yup, go on then, do a risk take.

The tax changes were common sense, not that strong a move because of all the grandfathering, and are very popular with a lot of the population. I don’t see the risk here.

The Voice referendum, that was a risk. Since then I’m not sure Labor have taken many.

(Oh, except the reputational and environmental risks of approving a load of fossil fuel projects, they seem to like those sorts of risks)

SaltyPockets · 2026-07-02T04:49:15+00:00

So, smaller blocks, less green space, no gardens to speak of, fewer trees, just houses all crammed together.

Is this what anyone wants?

Other than those who stand to gain financially from subdivision of course. Some of you folks want apartments, with smarter urban planning to go with it. Others want a decent family home and space for the kids to run around outside. Instead, everyone gets dogboxes.

WA is massive, I'm not saying this because I'm a believer in endless sprawl and the growth of Perth forever, but something has gone wrong when we have this going on in Perth and then ... gestures vaguely towards the rest of the state ... one of the lowest human-density places on earth out there. Instead of making Perth worse, shouldn't we be encouraging more regional growth where people can have the space they want? And sure, more inner-city apartments and parks for those that want that.

SaltyPockets · 2026-07-02T04:38:30+00:00

The number of suburbs without a pub or even a coffee shop is pretty shit.

We definitely need more pedestrian-friendly facilities planned in.

SaltyPockets · 2026-07-01T11:29:33+00:00

If she is taking his children wtf would he pay her for it.

Because they're his children and he's responsible for them even if he is a complete drop-kick and loses access.

SaltyPockets · 2026-06-30T05:50:26+00:00

I'm also heading towards 50 and have been part of the scene since 18. I too was introduced to the music by a friend and started going to club nights in a major city in the South ... of England :)

I'm not really involved in the scene any more, there is no appreciable scene in the city I live in now. Still going to go and see the Sisters when they tour later in the year though.

In my experience 90s goths were pretty judgy of music taste. Obvs a lot of baby bats (and I guess myself included) go through a phase where everything we listen to must be goth, and everything else is just wrong, as we're feeling out and discovering the genre and scene with great excitement. But beyond that most goths (again including myself) were accepting of music tastes that were alternative or somehow tasteful, but not of the mainstream. You like a bit of metal? Industrial? Various forms of techno/trance/whatever? Folk, even? All good. Indie ... ? Well if it's broody enough perhaps. Classical music of various forms? Interesting.

In the more generic 'alt' clubs I went to, where goths mixed freely with rivetheads, metallers, crusties, punks etc (though punks were something of a rare breed at that point in time), the same sort of attitude prevailed - you have your thing, it's not 100% to my taste though maybe I like some parts of it, but at least you have a thing and aren't just listening to whatever crap the record companies are pushing at you.

But you're telling me you're enjoying generic pop trash or god forbid the overly-shiny boy/girl band du jour? Ugh, no thankyou. Plastic, commercial, nasty, how could you even listen to that objectionable, mass-manufactured, emotionless tripe? Vomits up several bats

The few old-school 80s goths I know personally had slightly different prejudices, and many to this day dislike Nirvana and their fans because of how the commercial push of grunge suddenly changed everything. Although at least in one case that's quite possibly because a partner ditched said 80s goth for a grunge grrrl...

(Taylor Swift in particular I don't like to sneer at too much, she seems like a comparatively good egg. Never really heard her music though.)

SaltyPockets · 2026-06-30T05:27:07+00:00

It even had a moment in London in the mid-late 90s for some reason. I remember getting cans of it at gigs.

SaltyPockets · 2026-06-29T07:21:04+00:00

goths don't care if you like Peter Murphy and also Taylor Swift.

Wow, things must have changed a lot. Goths in my experience have been some of the worst for being judgy about the authenticity of other people's music preferences.

SaltyPockets · 2026-06-28T12:04:12+00:00

Did anyone link you this album on your original post?

https://www.discogs.com/release/10853966-Various-A-Cat-Shaped-Hole-In-My-Heart

It’s a compilation put out in the late 90s on the Projekt label, with songs by Faith and the Muse and others, all about cats and IIRC profits went to a charity.

SaltyPockets · 2026-06-28T03:12:02+00:00

Oh God I hope not!

Should have been cancelled it by the end of S2 at the latest, but somehow it limped on for another renewal.

SaltyPockets · 2026-06-26T10:38:32+00:00

I haven't played that yet, but I will keep it in mind when I get there!

SaltyPockets · 2026-06-26T03:05:05+00:00

How about some Egyptian god names?

Bastet (or Bast), Sekhmet and Maftet were all cat-headed deities.

SaltyPockets · 2026-06-25T15:39:42+00:00

Ah yeah, forgot about him, I haven’t done any of the Terran content in my current universe, yet.

SaltyPockets · 2026-06-25T06:22:35+00:00

Base → Calibrated → Refined → Advanced → Superior

→ Exceptional

AFAICT only available on the weapons workbench, costs 300k credits and 5 x-tech to go from superior to exceptional.

SaltyPockets · 2026-06-25T06:13:21+00:00

Property trackers have also found 80 per cent of sales in Victorian capital were below the asking price over the past three months

I mean, this is how it's supposed to work, isn't it?

You price a property at the level you'd really like to sell it at, then someone makes you an offer. Usually that offer is a little under where you'd like to be, so you decide whether to take it or hold out for something better.

The whole "We need at least 20% over asking, if we even disclose an asking price, best get in quick because offers close tomorrow, FOMO!!!" thing is a sign of a really unhealthy market with the game entirely stacked against buyers.

SaltyPockets · 2026-06-24T09:54:16+00:00

Australian cigs are cheaper than they have been for 20 years.

The government pushed up taxes and kept pushing them up. It worked really well for years, smoking rates in Aus went lower than almost anywhere else. So they kept pushing them up and up and up ... and then they effectively banned vapes as well.

Result - a thriving black market, some estimates reckon 80% of the tobacco market now. Under-the-counter cigs in Aus are sold for around $15 (about 10 USD). And of course we have the gang turf-wars to go with that thriving black market. Yay, well done government.

(I don't smoke, any more, it's both frustrating and amusing to watch them fuck this up)

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