I tend to agree on the property front. We're not going to see...

I tend to agree on the property front. We're not going to see the same as in the US. Their property market was a bomb waiting to go off.

Australia was around 40,000 new dwellings short in the past year and the gap will be larger in the next year. The commencement of building new houses has still been declining heavily due to the cost of materials, interest rates etc etc whilst immigration and population growth has continued to rise. Rental vacancy rates have also remained well below the average for almost 2 years. As interest rates drop (and they still have plenty of room to go compared to the rest of the world) people will head back to buying property. This all may balance out if unemployment starts to rocket, however people still have to live somewhere which will drive up rents and rents will make property attractive to investors. IMO worst case scenario is property drops very slightly.

Snake: on your decision to sell up. You may be making the call too early. I'd have waited to see what happens tomorrow (Fri).