I don't think average house prices across AUS will go UP...

I don't think average house prices across AUS will go UP strongly, nor go DOWN strongly.Auction clearance rates don't necessarily translate into significant surges in PRICES.

I think house prices will more-or-less go sideways for an extended period of time and investors will see that they can get significantly higher returns in other (non real-estate) markets.

In the last 10 years, what we saw with average house prices were an anomaly not a norm - Read this ABC article on not expecting another boom that we witnessed in the last 10 years - https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-07-19/house-price-falls-are-ending-but-dont-expect-another-boom/11298992

So in short, I am currently neither a property bull nor a property bear - I think the GENERAL property market will go sideways (but always remember there are markets within markets - whether it is with shares or real-estate).I do think, however, that a prudent investor will be able to get much higher returns outside the real-estate market.

p.s. I think people got side-tracked with the negative gearing debate - the real elephant in the room is the Westpac class action which will have a significant impact on lending and hence house price gains.