Geez Vale, that's a bit harsh. Not all investors are cluey, and I dont know how many letters, emails etc I have received from investment companies asking me to come to their presentations in the hope of ramming the property investment scenario down my throat. Add to this all the TV shows, real estate agent fluff and so on, it is no wonder investors are being scared into buying up before it's 'too late' to afford.
Responsible advertising is not in the best interests of the marketeer. Investors obviously need to make their own decisions and can only blame themselves (if they do lose out) but the incessant information being fed out has to have some effect on decisions of the average investor.
As for 20%-30% drop in property prices, this definately needs some qualification. It is far too general to state that the market price will drop 20%. High-rise units I have no doubt, but no way in Melbourne is the average house price within 15km of the city going to drop, at least not with continued low interest rates and relatively strong economic growth. 10 years of stangnant property prices from the late 80s has to be taken into account and as Grant says, the Economist has taken a graph to suit their argument.
Reduction in new home approvals doesn't concern me either. So they'r coming off their highs, compare the approvals to the same time 3-4 years ago and you this will give you a truer picture.
No, in my area, I can't see property prices dropping 20%. You can argue it will, but you need to qualify the area of Australia and type of property you are referring to , as it is silly to group every property in Australia into the same bucket.
