Half of Australians want house prices to fall, poll finds

More than half of all Australians now believe house prices should fall, a striking new poll has revealed — a sentiment shared not only by frustrated renters and first-home buyers, but by a notable portion of existing property owners who have long benefited from rising values.

The survey, released Sunday evening, lays bare the deepening frustration with housing affordability across the country, where median dwelling prices in major cities remain far beyond the reach of ordinary wage earners. For many Australians, the prospect of ever owning a home has shifted from delayed aspiration to outright impossibility.

What makes the findings particularly significant is the breadth of the sentiment. Homeowners have traditionally resisted calls for price corrections, given that their own wealth is tied up in property. The fact that a meaningful slice of that group now supports lower prices suggests the affordability crisis has become a mainstream concern rather than one confined to those locked out of the market.

The poll also carried unexpected political news: controversial tax changes introduced in the federal budget — widely criticised when first announced — are proving more popular with voters than initially anticipated. Support has been building quietly, and the shift appears to have caught even some within government off guard.

Perhaps most surprising is that at least one Coalition frontbencher has signalled openness to the budget measures, a significant departure from the opposition's public posture on the issue. The development points to growing cross-party acknowledgement that the status quo on housing is politically unsustainable.

Australia's property market has defied expectations of a sustained correction despite aggressive interest rate rises in recent years. While prices dipped briefly in 2022 and early 2023, values in Sydney and Melbourne have since recovered, and cities like Brisbane and Perth have surged to record highs. The resilience of the market has compounded the sense of injustice among younger Australians, who watched borrowing costs rise while the homes they hoped to buy only became more expensive.

Housing economists have long debated whether a price correction is desirable or even achievable without triggering broader economic instability. A sharp fall in dwelling values would reduce household wealth, potentially dampen consumer spending, and place some recent buyers into negative equity. Yet the polling data suggests a growing number of Australians are willing to accept that risk — or at least believe the current trajectory cannot continue.

Federal and state governments have pursued a range of supply-side measures in recent years, including planning reforms, incentives for build-to-rent developments, and targets for new home construction. Progress has been slow, however, and the gap between housing supply and population growth — fuelled in part by record immigration — remains wide.

The budget tax changes at the centre of the political shift have not been fully detailed in polling commentary, but they appear tied to investor-side concessions that critics argue have long inflated demand. Whether the apparent voter support translates into durable political momentum — or whether prices themselves will meaningfully respond to any policy changes — remains to be seen.