The prices for houses in Australia are set to drop by five to ten per cent, predicts a University of Western Sydney professor.

Professor Steve Keen told The Age that he predicts Australians will opt to pay off more loans in the hope of releasing a capital gain.

“The main force that will drive prices down is precisely the same force
that drove them up: the acceleration of mortgage debt,” said Professor
Steve Keen. “That is now decidedly negative in Australia.”

In the past year to October, capital city home prices have already dropped four per cent.
APM senior economist Andrew Wilson said that if there is no recovery from this drop, the government may look towards an effort to stimulate first home buyers.