Bursting the Bubble: Overview : SBS Insight

Overview

Will a slowing economy lower house prices in Australia?

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The Housing Industry Association says housing affordability is at a 24-year low. Yet economists are divided over whether Australia's troubled economy will work for or against those struggling to buy a home or maintain a mortgage.

Economist Steven Keen has claimed Australia is heading for the worst recession since the Great Depression, and predicts housing prices will drop by over 40 per cent.

The ANZ’s Saul Eslake warns this is a dangerous assumption, while economic journalist Ross Gittins believes we are in uncharted waters, with household debt at an all-time high.

Home owners mortgaged to the hilt, economists, housing and construction representatives, government and opposition meet on Insight to discuss who could benefit from a big economic dip.

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Meet the Guests

Jago Dodson

Jago Dodson works as a Senior Research Fellow in the Urban Research Program at Griffith University. His research interests include urban housing systems, transport planning and urban governance. He has published a book on housing policy and a recent report, Unsettling Suburbia, which looks at the vulnerability of Australian households to mortgage pain and higher petrol prices.

Chris Bowen

Chris Bowen is the Assistant Treasurer, Minister for Competition Policy and Consumer Affairs for the Rudd Labor Government. Chris Bowen was elected to the Federal Parliament as Member for Prospect in October 2004.

Ross Gittins

Ross Gittins is the Sydney Morning Herald's economics editor, and is regularly published in the Herald and The Age.

He received the 1993 Citibank Pan Asia award for excellence in finance journalism, and recently published two books titled Gittinomics and Gittins' Guide to Economics.

Leticia Demesa

Leticia Demesa is a small business owner who has seen a recent sharp down turn in her business. Leticia borrowed against her home to fund the business five years ago and is now facing high repayments and a diminishing income.

Saul Eslake

Saul Eslake is the Chief Economist with ANZ. He is also part of the National Housing Supply Council, an initiative of the Labor Government to report on the current supply of housing and affordability. Saul also spent seven years as the non-executive director of the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute.

Peter Dutton

Peter Dutton is the Shadow Minister for Finance, Competition Policy and Deregulation. He is also the Federal Member for Dickson, north-west of Brisbane.