Doing something about improving housing affordability, particularly for people on low and moderate incomes, is difficult for Australian politicians. The core of the problem is simple: until those trying to buy a home outnumber those who own one, governments will not adopt policies to bring down house prices. As John Howard once observed, no-one came up to him complaining their house price had increased.
Given the public anxiety about the issue, particularly among young people, governments are showing renewed interests in doing something about housing affordability. So what sort of government interventions are effective? A new report from the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute (AHURI), released today, explores these issues state by state. And some are clearly doing better than others.
What have governments been doing?
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