Malcolm Turnbull insists tackling housing affordability is a priority for his government.
New figures suggest his efforts can't come soon enough.
There are signs of a re-acceleration in home prices, which in the past year alone stand nearly 11 per cent higher on average.
The prime minister, in an address to the National Press Club on Wednesday, conceded there were no quick fixes or silver bullets to housing affordability.
"We need more dwellings, and better transport - road and rail - because distance is measured in minutes not kilometres," he told the Canberra audience.
The states needed to be encouraged to fix their planning laws and make it easier to get development approvals.
"Ensuring more Australians can afford to buy a home is a priority."
More broadly, the prime minister was adamant the economy has not sunk into recession.
The economy unexpectedly shrank 0.5 per cent in the September quarter, and a further decline when the December quarter figures are released on March 1 would constitute a technical recession.
"I'm not expecting that outcome," Mr Turnbull said.
Other figures released on Wednesday suggest while there is a lot of talk about cost-of-living pressures, they're more a perception rather than a reality.
It probably doesn't help wages growth is at a record low when doing the weekly shop.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics released its quarterly cost of living indexes, which in some cases were even more benign than the latest consumer price index.
These indexes gauge how much after-tax incomes need to change to allow different types of households to purchase the same quantity of consumer goods in a given period.
For working households, the cost of living grew 0..3 per cent in the December quarter for an annual rate of one per cent.
The CPI for the same period inflation grew 0.5 per cent for 1.5 per cent annually.
The bureau explained the difference between the two gauges was mainly due to the fall in mortgage interest rates after the cut in the cash by the Reserve Bank in August.
Mortgage charges are not included in the CPI.
The cost of living for aged pensioners was the same as employees in the quarter, reflecting they have a higher expenditure on health, which was calculated as a two per cent drop in the quarter.
Self-funded retirees suffered a slightly more expensive quarter, rising 0.6 per cent due to these households tending to have a higher expenditure recreational goods, which rose 0.9 per cent.
More generally, the CPI had shown the largest increases in the quarter were for petrol prices, and a rise in tobacco excise.
The price of other day-to-day goods also increased to a lesser degree, but the cost of bread, milk, cheese, eggs and lamb all declined.
