Tarric Brooker aka Avid Commentator 🇦🇺

From comparisons with historic housing price falls, to the performance of Australia's per capita economy over the last 40 years, we have it all here in this fortnight's chart pack.

"I haven't found anybody in seven and a half years shake their fist at me and say Howard I'm angry with you for letting the value of my house increase." - John Howard Well Johnny, welcome to the logical conclusion of your policies, you absolutely blew it for the whole nation.

From the latest housing price falls to the make up to the new U.S Congress, we have got you covered.

This is why we can't have nice things....

This unfortunately applies in so many places across the world... h/t @RudyHavenstein

When compared with the first four years of each government (taking power from opposition) in the last 50 years, the Albanese govt performs by far the worst on headline growth. The fact they have managed to perform so poorly while pumping migration to record highs is astounding.

The issue was making housing prices the economy, not the fact that unwinding this utter lunacy has costs. The folks pushing this strategy should have thought of that when they were so happily watching prices soar and this hollowing out the economy.

"Australia has sent a record 193 official representatives to the COP31 climate summit in Turkey, with taxpayers covering the cost of travel, accommodation and other expenses." Taking the piss. news24.com.au/politics/austr…

Migration into Canada set to rise for 2027 and this fueling significant controversy. The equivalent level in Australian terms based on Royal Bank of Canada estimates ~168k per year. RBC source: rbc.com/en/economics/canadia…

There have been three rate rise cycles in the post-GFC era. This is the smallest relative drop in first home buyer lending following the start of a rate rise cycle in this era. Meanwhile, homes are more unaffordable than ever and there is massive geopolitical uncertainty.

Narrator: In 2026, almost anything could become one of the near daily ideological Rorschach Tests where a sizable proportion of the population saw an issue through the lens of their ideology, rather than on its merits. Today's instalment, the cricket player and his book.

Since there is controversy on the latest first home buyer finance figures, a thought. First home buyer demand for the Albanese govts expanded 5% deposit scheme rocketed since its introduction on October 1st 2025. When tens of thousands of people bring forward their property purchases in an environment with stretched affordability, you are going to see a corresponding vacuum in demand down the road where their purchases would have been without government intervention in the market. The Housing Australia data shows this, a surge in demand from people who would have previously been ineligible for the scheme. Is that vacuum part of what we are seeing now? Arguably yes. And this has all happened before.

Based on this logic, Albo is screwed. The chances of him having the time, the internal support and the broader willingness within Labor to fix the underlying per capita economy before May 2028 is minimal. Not that I wouldnt very much like to see him try.

There is a world where higher rates (lets be honest ballpark historic average) become the new normal and housing prices just need to adapt to that.

"Under-16s in the UK could now be banned from....YouTube Kids under expanded Government proposals to widen the scope of its social media ban" God forbid a toddler watches Numberblocks....

Based on both first hand and second hand experience, can confirm this.

Fascinating chart on fossil fuel usage by nation, broken down coal vs oil vs natural gas. h/t @VisualCap

The drop off in owner occupier purchase activity in the face of higher rates is normal. In fact, the current drop off is proportionally significantly smaller than the one stemming from the 2009 rate rise cycle & the 2022 instance. More on this coming to Burnouteconomics.com

Eventually rate cuts are going to come, they always do. But I increasingly suspect that when that time does come, that some of the people calling for them the loudest today, may be disappointed with the circumstances under which they got what they wished for.

Another day, another opportunity to note down more people who oppose cheaper housing, despite claiming they want things to be "more affordable". We will remember this when you try and spin some nonsense about housing in the future.