> I'd naively expect that the decreased profitability of an asset would decrease its market value It actually does (kind of), the problem is that the gap betwe

> I'd naively expect that the decreased profitability of an asset would decrease its market value It actually does (kind of), the problem is that the gap between "not profitable" and "affordable" is a chasm. Someone who is currently paying $350/week rent with minimal savings behind them (which statistically is an optimistic assumption) is not going to be able to find a 10% (or maybe higher) deposit on a $500,000+ property. The other issue is that right now we're experiencing massive inflation of house prices. Median house value in NZ increased 24% in March - that means you'd need to save around $2000/week just to not lose ground. It's madness, I'm glad I bought at what I thought was the top of the market in March 2000.