Media reporting of property price outcomes across Australia is becoming increasingly inaccurate and sensationalist. Indeed, many respected industry figures have commented that the standard of media coverage of housing markets is the worse they have seen – and I wholeheartedly agree.
Research entities that provide price data are competing for media coverage and a high public profile – and this compels them to rush out their statistics with undue haste, always emphasising any negatives in the figures because they believe this will enhance their chances of free publicity.
Media is always happy to oblige. Press releases claiming that prices are collapsing or will collapse are published without challenge or any kind of journalistic scrutiny. Consequently, we have daily headlines claiming prices are “plummeting”, “nosediving” or “collapsing” right across the nation.
This is patently untrue. The actual price data does not support the headlines we are seeing. The new Domain House Price Report shows, in fact, that prices rose in the June Quarter in most capital cities, despite the interest rate increases that economists claim will cause prices to “fall off a cliff”.
