House price surge Australia-wide defies predictions
Capital city house prices rose by 18.4% in the year 2002, with Sydney leading the pack with a rise of 22.4%. A rise of this magnitude and higher will attract the speculative element, ie borrow money, buy a property, sell in a year or two, pay off your debt and costs, clear a profit. It is this which will fuel a truly massive boom, where prices can rise by as much as 100% in the final year before the bust. And when the bust comes, it will signify a real recession or depression, as the debt burden cripples banks; and unrealistic land, rent and interest prices cripple industry because actual returns to real production cannot justify the high prices they are forced to pay. In other words a classic Henry George-style land boom and economic bust, timed to boom in the next 3-4 years and bust spectacularly about 2007. Not only Georgists, but the Reserve bank and any number of other experts are repeatedly warning about the looming bust but that is not going to stop it. The only thing that can stop this cycle is to direct the economic rent of sites into the public treasury.

House price surge Australia-wide defies predictions
Capital city house prices rose by 18.4% in the year 2002, with Sydney leading the pack with a rise of 22.4%. A rise of this magnitude and higher will attract the speculative element, ie borrow money, buy a property, sell in a year or two, pay off your debt and costs, clear a profit. It is this which will fuel a truly massive boom, where prices can rise by as much as 100% in the final year before the bust. And when the bust comes, it will signify a real recession or depression, as the debt burden cripples banks; and unrealistic land, rent and interest prices cripple industry because actual returns to real production cannot justify the high prices they are forced to pay. In other words a classic Henry George-style land boom and economic bust, timed to boom in the next 3-4 years and bust spectacularly about 2007. Not only Georgists, but the Reserve bank and any number of other experts are repeatedly warning about the looming bust but that is not going to stop it. The only thing that can stop this cycle is to direct the economic rent of sites into the public treasury.