With the exception of say the larger cities like melbourne and sydney I think any rise in real estate prices has more to do with land being made available to build on and someone to do the building of the house. Perth was a dirt cheap place to buy a house when I got here because there were plenty of blocks to buy and lots of unemployed trades people. When unemployment in Perth dropped significantly and there was only about a 1000 blocks up for sale prices went through the roof.
To say property is some magic asset class that will always go up in Australia is like saying that the supply of blocks is running out, unemployment will always be below 5%, interest rates will never go higher than 7%, building materials are running out, the number of people retired in 10 years time wont outnumber the workforce and banks will never question their exposure to an asset class that needs to keep 5 balls juggling in the air at the same time to keep it afloat
