prices coincide with record low wage growth, record low interest rates and record household debt equal to 130% of GDP. This indicates unsustainable growth in property, driven by ever higher debt levels fuelled by the RBA's then chief, Glenn Stevens who began cutting rates beginning in 2011. The Housing Affordability in Australia - Good house is hard to find report stated that "the average house price in the capital cities is now equivalent to over seven years of average earnings; up from three in the 1950s to the early 1980s. Some factors that may have contributed to the increase in property prices include: greater availability of credit due to financial deregulation. low interest rates since 2008, increasing borrowing capacity to borrow due to lower repayments. limited government release of new land (reducing supply). the average floor area of new houses has increased by up to 53.8% in the 18 years from 1984–85 to 2002–03. a tax system that favours investors and existing home owners, with policies such as negative gearing and capital gain tax discounts. government restrictions on the use of land preventing higher density land use. government restrictions on greenfield development designed to encourage "urban densification". high population growth (about double the world average in 2010- see Population growth rates chart). 2008 foreign investment rule changes for temporary visa holders. introduction by local councils of upfront infrastructure levies in the early 2000s. implementation of government schemes such as the first home buyers and first home builders schemes, which increase demand and therefore prices (supply and demand). Influence of planning laws Beginning in the 1980s, Australian states (who under the Constitution have control of environmental and land use issues) started progressively implementing more rigid planning laws that regulated the use of land. Planning laws often concentrated, after the 1990s, on restricting greenfield development in favour of "urban densification", or infill development. Land rationing is a system of banning development in all but designated areas, and can lead to extreme land price inflation if insufficient land is designated as allowed to be developed. The restrictive planning laws in Australia have used land rationing systems as part of the goal of restricting greenfield development in favour of infill development, but this inevitably lead to land prices, and thus house prices, rising significantly. There is good evidence to suggest that the price of a new unit of housing is the ultimate anchor of