re: rates up. but rates still too low
watso meant to mention something like that- rabbitoh. for the ordinary man in the street, this "resources boom" is nothing more than a load of rubbish. house prices in the west have doubled in the last three years, but incomes have hardly moved - just ask the police, the nurses, rank and file public servants etc etc. what good is a resources boom, if a mortgage has doubled in size. lucky, not everybody, has a huge mortgage, only those buying properties at the ever increasing prices. obviously the demand is there, otherwise prices would not be increasing.
so who is to blame - mmmm 1. the banks and lending institutions - who made it too easy to borrow money
2. people themselves. the average household debt has increased to 160% (???) of family income, compared to 50% of family income back in 1992 (????)
