why property prices will/ won't crash, page-17

Most here should know the rule of thumb that property and shares perform against each other. When one's down the other will be up. The share market fell not because shares were dodgy, but because the economy was punching above its weight. At the beginning of the share market fall in late 2007, most non share individuals found the whole bear market thing quite amusing. That is until they realised that the falling share market was a tell tale sign that things aren't really as syrupy as they'd thought, and once they'd set eyes on their superfund figures the smirks quickly turned upside down.

So here we are, with the XJO roughly down 50% and, miraculously, housing here appearing to be chugging along quite nicely.

If the economy was so dire that shares had to be sold off at such high volumes then that says something negative across the board, not just with shares. Profits reports have been shockingly poor, with major company bankruptcies making regular cameo appearances to the show.

Profits down, job vacancies down, confidence down, spending down and investments down.
Yes, housing has done remarkably well. Of course it has, as shares are rotten to virtually every punter out there.

My opinion is that Australian home buyers of the last decade have been duped into believing they were getting value for money, and if they didn't think that, they thought they had to buy at all costs or miss out!

Now mortgage lending standards are being screwed harder than ever seen in the last decade. We'll be going to see the removal of first home buyers grants - that may very well instantly delete 15% of buyers from the market. With a big reduction in buying pressure, expect house prices to begin to contract. Don't believe me? Then why has the premium market fallen as opposed to the bottom end market, which is doing very well?

With the share market poised to make big gains over the next 2 years, the mind set of Australian investors will quickly turn the other way. Yes Australia will do well out of mining, but most jobs in Australia are not mining related.

As I've said in the past, bank interest is poor, housing looks like it will go nowhere for the next ten years and the share market will be sought after for the best returns.
Where are you going to invest?
Check out this
http://au.pfinance.yahoo.com/b/donna-brond/26/fuel-prices-going-down