Guys one of many differences between US and australia regaridng property is that mortgages are with the person rather than in the US were they are only with the house. US mortgagees can simply walk away and there is no further liability. another issue is that there is a relative shortage of housing thereby creating a relatively high rental cost. This creates a relatvie floor. As a price of a house goes down the yield goes up. A person making the descision to buy or rent needs to weigh these up. While the buying will always be more expensive, the additional cost will need to reflect the potential future capital gains and the security of having a roof over your head.
As to the banks, yes they are getitng some real benefits in this crisis. money is flowing in but not going out in loans as fast, so they must be paying off more expensive wholesale debt.
This was a question i raised as to where all the money is flowing to given the reduced demand for loans.
