A weekend topic starting with the New York Post. "New York has 20 of the 100 priciest ZIP codes in the nation, but for the first time the city doesn’t have a single one in the Top 10. The biggest price dip was 38% in the Garment District’s 10018, which dropped from 26th to 84th. Manhattan’s fall is historic, the first time at least one neighborhood hasn’t made the Top 10 since PropertyShark launched its rankings in 2015."

From NBC News on California. "When Chirag Bhakta saw a headline recently that said tech workers were fleeing San Francisco, he had a quick reaction: 'Good riddance.' Bhakta, a San Francisco native and tenant organizer for affordable housing nonprofit Mission Housing, is well-versed in the seismic impact that the growth of the tech industry has had on the city. As software companies expanded over the past decade, they drew thousands of well-off newcomers who bid up rents and remade the city's economy and culture."

"He said the sudden departure of many tech workers and executives — often to less expensive, rural areas where they can telecommute during the coronavirus pandemic — reveals that their relationship with San Francisco was 'transactional' all along. 'They used their capital to radically shift the makeup of poor, working-class communities,' Bhakta said. 'We're left with 'for sale' signs and price points that are still out of reach for most people.'"

"John Elberling, executive director of Todco, an affordable housing nonprofit that operates in the South of Market neighborhood alongside the shuttered headquarters of countless tech companies and startups, is among those who believe the city was being overrun by people who arrived for one reason. 'The motivation got to this get-rich-quick attitude,' he said. 'And that isn't what our city is about. You can make a lot of money here, obviously, but that's not the persona of San Francisco.'"

"San Francisco has a history of boom-and-bust cycles, stretching back to the 1849 gold rush and including multiple tech bubbles. But that's not why people stay, Elberling said. 'If all you care about is money, I suggest you go to Texas,' he said."

From Stuff New Zealand. "The housing debate raged this week almost as much as the housing market itself. The politicians talked faster than the auctioneers and were just as sweaty. Home-buyer anxiety approached Wellington tender-opening time levels. No-one is publicly happy, although the Reserve Bank said it appreciated the wealth effect on economic growth and homeowners are quietly planning their next trip to Harvey Norman and Bunnings Warehouse."

"'This is like the greatest boom I’ve ever seen in my lifetime,' said Gerry Harvey, the 81-year-old founder of Harvey Norman this week. He predicted another three or four years of rampant sales of couches and flat-screen-TVs, sales of which were up 25 per cent in the September quarter from a year ago."

"Politicians and financial bureaucrats were less thrilled. The Opposition called on the Government to rein in the rogue Reserve Bank’s cheap lending to banks. The Finance Minister took the unprecedented step of writing to the Reserve Bank Governor asking him nicely not to blow up house prices too much more. The Reserve Bank responded by saying in as many words: 'Thanks for the advice. We’re already doing that, and how about you use your levers too, including tax.'"

"Every property owner and politician under their breath: 'Don’t do too much to make housing affordable. It might reduce the value of my house and my life savings, and endanger the banks.' This is the dirty not-so-little secret of the entire issue, which was perfectly encapsulated by the Prime Minister’s comment in the last debate before the election that she would not want house prices to fall."

From Newshub New Zealand. "A property investment expert has claimed the housing crisis is a myth, and that we've built more than enough homes in the past few decades to keep up with population growth. Ashley Church's views are at odds with the Government, economists and advocacy groups, which all place the shortage in the tens of thousands."

"'If you go back to 1986 and you look at the census, the short answer is we don't [have a crisis],' Church, the former head of the Property Institute of New Zealand, said. 'We've actually built far more houses than we would have required just to stand still. This mantra that we've been parroting since about 2013 is political, not practical. It's not real.'"

"Many have pointed the finger at the Reserve Bank, which has kept interest rates at record lows to stimulate the economy - a side-effect being it's cheaper than it has ever been to borrow and speculate on property. Church said this has been the real reason for prices going up as far back as the mid-1980s - not a lack of supply 'The cost of money has come down dramatically, that's fuelled the ability for people to spend more on houses. Essentially, that's probably the 80 or 90 percent driver of house price increases.'"

"The official cash rate in the 1980s was up around 20 percent. While this made servicing a mortgage arguably more difficult, prices compared to incomes were much lower - making it easier to get a deposit together. In 1991, Statistics NZ data shows there were about 2.64 people per household on average. That has fallen to 2.59 in 2020. Far more people are now renting than in 1991 however, suggesting a higher percentage of homes are owned by investors than in the past - and with more equity, it's often easier for them to get lending to buy more."

"Church said it was 'not necessarily a bad thing' for house prices to go up. 'There's this big focus on what we can do to stop house prices going up, what can we do to slow down house price inflation? It's the wrong question. There's nothing wrong with house price inflation. It's been very good for our country - it's made people wealthy, it's enabled us to start businesses using the equity that we've built in properties.'"

"Economist Shamubeel Eaqub contributed to a housing report commissioned by the Government in 2018 which laid out the sheer scope of the problem, saying it had contributed to soaring rents and 'high levels of children's hospitalisations as a result of poor quality housing.' Last week on Newshub Nation he said the Reserve Bank was pouring fuel on the housing market fire and 'ripping apart the social fabric of New Zealand.'"

"While they agree on the primary cause of the recent surge in prices, Eaqub is squarely in the camp of believing there is a crisis. 'We've got this huge ponzi scheme that is being enabled and encouraged by the Reserve Bank. We can't afford for this to continue.'"

The Herald Sun in Australia. "Christmas could come early for frustrated Victorian vendors who have had their homes on the market for most of the 'rollercoaster' year, as confidence returns to Melbourne real estate. A Torquay house that’s been discounted twice, a one-bedroom Strathmore apartment and a lush Bright property have lingered the longest on the market — for about 11 months, since January 2."

"Homeowners in Clyde, the CBD, Ballan, Wongarra and South Yarra are also desperate for Santa to bring them sales after a tough 2020, having waited for the chance to put up sold stickers since the first month of the year. Phillip Webb chief executive Anthony Webb said the drawn-out sales campaigns could be blamed on the coronavirus 'rollercoaster,' which had left some vendors 'stuck' with their listings."

"'This has been a year where all normal rules were thrown out the window,' Mr Webb said. 'The number of days a property has been on the market is often more reflective of the situation we’ve been in rather than the quality of the listing. We saw some buyers who had difficulty getting finance, so they also just stopped looking at properties.'"

"Realestate.com.au chief economist Nerida Conisbee said the inner-city apartment market had been massively hit by the ban on private inspections and international border closures. 'These markets have been challenged because of very little rental demand,' Ms Conisbee said. 'Most units in Australia are bought by investors, so that’s also why these markets have been very weak, with investors fleeing during COVID-19.'"

"Pakenham Upper vendor Carol Sheen has been trying to sell her outer lifestyle retreat at 5 Bayard Drive since the start of 2020. After a turbulent year, she wants to 'put pen to paper before Christmas' and move into her newly-built Warragul house without being saddled with too much debt next year. The four-bedroom acerage with sweeping views is on the market for $1.15m."