menta..thats rubbish.... every housing bubble....when have we had one here in OZ...? or are you confused with the stock market crash of 1987... have a look at the prices on page 8 of the link from 1970-2003....there are only rises...no drops. no booms..just good old steady as she goes...bricks and mortar...keeping pace with inflation...keeping pace with the devaluation of the dollar
and bubbles dont burst in good times....they burst when there is a left of field trigger...a black swan event....a monumental scam, corruption, fraud is usually the trigger...it has nothing to do with ordinary business....
like the events leading up to the 87 stockmarket crash
in the US there were many reasons....firstly the NINJA loans to people unemployed.... did you know if unemployed in the US...you only get assistance for 6 months...then you are on your own... it was barack obama and his chicago lawyer mob that started the ninja loans...
I love it how the bears consistently use the US and Japan as their prime examples....or god help them...Iceland.. or the Tulip period....or the 1930's depression...
its like wanting to buy a new ford or holden for under $5000 today....when the price is $40,000.... the car is a classic example of the devaluation of the buying power of the dollar..
most of the bears, ignore the devaluation of the buying power of the poor old dollar... and their arguments use the dollar value , as if it held the same valuation as 100, 50, or even 10 years ago...
anyway...the rate of inflation is closer to 10% pa... but the govt's have fiddled with it so much...to keep it low...since so many wages, pensions and other forced costs are attached to that CPI rate... its cheaper for them to use a 3% rate for the payouts...than to pay the true rate..