Isn’t it amazing what a policy that actually tackles the cause of outrageous house prices can do?

‘“Property recession” is not a thing,’ writes Greg Jericho. ‘Let’s not make up terms just because real estate agents’ profits have taken a hit.’ Photograph: Diego Fedele/AAP

For the first time in 25 years, an Australian government actually did something about housing based on the idea that the only way to make houses more affordable is for house prices to fall. They stopped pretending there was another way.

For years, politicians liked to talk about how, if incomes rise faster than house prices, housing becomes more “affordable”.