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Any forecasts on the share or property market appears to rely on the information currently available from each. For the most part it appears that sentiment in these markets changes literally overnight and for an unknown reason. It's as if people suddenly decide in unison that the market is overbought/ oversold, overpriced/ underpriced, overheated/ cool and then react accordingly.

Maybe I'm wrong, but I get the feeling that, for example, the share market went from all doom and gloom to the reverse over a period of days and we saw what appears to be one of the sharpest rebounds in recent history from the recent GFC, which was anticipated to be widely crippling, and one of those things to 'worsen before it gets better'. The property market has done the same. Hot as all hell one week and then starting to cool the next, like Melbourne's weather.

Anyway, on the subject of house price increases of 30% over the next three years is hardly considered a 'boom'. In my opinion that is the expected rate for a constantly rising market. That said, there are many who think it will flatline or even fall in the next few years. At least in the suburb where I bought my first home, median prices have come off 2.7% in the last quarter, although still registering an overall 23% increase in the last year. The price drop is not unexpected, particularly in an area that would be more popular with first home buyers, considering the rate rises.