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Mal’s response to the current house pricing and interest rate reports: I’ve had this question more in the last fortnight than in the previous six months. Prices [side note folks, they are not ‘prices’ they are medians, but you ask about ‘prices’ so I am using that phrase, as much as it clearly frustrates me…

Gross rental yields across Australia have climbed to 3.85%, according to Cotality’s October Housing Chart Pack, the highest national level since August 2019. It arrived in the same month the auction market took over the headlines, and it has barely rated a mention. Fewer than half the homes taken to auction in the capital cities…

The Clarity Report has been with journalists, economists and policymakers for a week now. One response keeps coming back, and so does one question. “Outstanding.” That was how a federal senator responded after reading The Clarity Report, handed to him a few days earlier by Mal Cayley in person. If you’re catching up, The Clarity…

Equifax has just measured what Australian construction has become: company exits up 114% in a year, and only 23% of new builds finishing on time. The Clarity Report documents how it got there. The Jury Room opened to the public yesterday, and the whole case file is free. Of the Australians surveyed who had followed…

There is a lot to feel unsettled about in property news this month. There’s been talks of a downturn spreading. The RBA meets again on 29 September with inflation still stuck above target. Negative gearing changes are still working their way through investor portfolios. It would be easy to read all of that as a…

Ask ten people what’s causing the housing crisis and you’ll get ten different villains. Migration’s too high. Investors are hoarding stock. Councils sit on approvals. Interest rates killed the builders. Everyone’s got a culprit, and everyone’s partly right, which is exactly why none of it adds up to an answer. There’s one number that explains…