Sydney bubble holds nation hostage

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By Leith van Onselen

The Sydney housing bubble is really something to behold. After rising in value by more than 30% in less than two years, Sydney housing values continue to climb into the stratosphere, with the rate of acceleration increasing since the start of the year:

ScreenHunter_6680 Mar. 23 10.10

This surge in housing prices has, of course, been driven by an unprecedented orgy of investor speculation, whose share of total finance commitments (excluding refinancings) hit a record 58.2% in the year to January, with no end in sight:

ScreenHunter_6649 Mar. 19 14.48
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About the author
Leith van Onselen is Chief Economist at the MB Fund and MB Super. He is also a co-founder of MacroBusiness. Leith has previously worked at the Australian Treasury, Victorian Treasury and Goldman Sachs.