Property crash???
Property investing is a microeconomic decision. Each property purchase has to be assessed individually and should make good demographic and economic sense. Way too many shoe-shine boys in the market at the moment buying something for a $1 and selling it for 60 cents in the hope it will eventually be worth $2. With the RBA’s (short-term) rate rises the sun is about to set on speculative buying and it may very well be a long night. Especially if the stock market continues to take off (as it cyclically does) and the big money moves to richer pastures.
If most buyers bought over 12 months ago they may only see the value of their property return to its purchase price.
If prices fall most people will probably just hang on to their property/s until things get better. At least as long as they can afford to. This means less quality stock on the market to meet the demand and generally sustained pricing.
When interest rates go up there is normally increased pressure on rents. This time this may have to wait for the construction boom to cool a little more. But rents WILL eventually start to rise and the RE market will slowly regain its sanity.
I have seen many booms and busts in my life and this definitely smells of a bust. The scavenging opportunities that everyone is talking about will only be there once our shoe-shine boy goes back to shining shoes.