Housing market at risk from ‘Black swan events’
‘Black swan events’ pose a genuine threat to Australia’s housing market and broader economy, according to a leading property researcher.
Brian Haratsis, chief executive officer of property research and advisory firm Macro Plan Australia, said events such as major overseas conflicts, the Queensland floods, or a potential market collapse in China could have a big impact on the local property market. Yet the Australian government and financial institutions have failed to address such risks, he said.
“What would happen if we found ourselves in another financial fallout and housing prices were to significantly drop? Australia’s property market is inflated by around 20 per cent at present and this poses genuine risks to our stability,” he said.
“We need to be asking what we can do to reduce the cost of housing over the next decade through regulatory and taxation means to avoid such a threat to the mortgage industry and economy as a whole.”
Mr Haratsis was speaking at the first ever Australian Mortgage Conference, held in Sydney today.
Key mortgage industry stakeholders have gathered to discuss the outlook for the mortgage market and how the industry landscape will look in 2020.