A dose of realty
Issue 27: A real behavioural issue on real estate
Now that we have a property expert on the books (read Tess O'Brien’s unhinged MediaDiet here), it made sense for this issue of COMMPRESS to turn its focus to the housing market.
If there’s one thing Tess brings to the table, it’s a clear-eyed view of how off-course the conversation around property has become. For too long, the narrative has been fuelled by aspiration: prestige listings, lifestyle fantasy, investment returns. Meanwhile, we’re in a full-blown housing emergency.
This issue is about shifting gears. Less dream-home dopamine, more real-world strategy. It’s time Australia talked less about what property looks like and more about how we communicate solutions. That means smart, practical and grounded in the realities people are facing.
The most viewed property in Australia last year was a $96 million to $105 million Toorak mansion. That’s more than 100 times the price of a typical home. Search for #property on TikTok and you’ll be one of the 3 billion viewers who have looked up the content. Even greater is the power of the walk-around, with #housetour getting 10.1 billion views, #realestate 21.6 billion and #luxuryhomes s 3.3 billion.
That’s billions of views of aspirational content while actual housing policy announcements barely register on the algorithm. Meanwhile, we’re in a housing crisis so severe it’s consuming 47% of every dinner conversation and 100% of political oxygen.
This is not a smart conversation.
We’re stuck in a dopamine loop where TikTok property tours and Selling Sunset or Luxe Listings have fundamentally rewired what Australians believe housing should be. Just as social media warped body image, it’s now distorting our perception of what a “normal” home looks like.
Blame TikTok. Blame real estate agents in tight suits. Blame the boomers. Blame drone footage. Blame that one friend who works as a venture capitalist that bought a vineyard and now makes organic wine and candles.
Blame whoever you want, but when public narrative becomes skewed by fantasy, policymakers design solutions for imaginary problems. We end up trying to deliver aspirational dreams rather than getting people under secure roofs.
You don’t have to kill the dream, just acknowledge the dream is already dead for most people. And if your next dopamine hit comes from a modular home or a build-to-rent development with sick common areas and money left for actual life? Well, maybe that’s evolution.
There’s a massive upside for the developer, agent or government department that manages to acknowledge this shift and break the back of it. While competitors chase yesterday’s market with tomorrow’s prices, you could be building trust with generations desperate for someone to finally, honestly, acknowledge their reality.
Act
It’s not a smart conversation if there’s nothing to talk about.
Start with the right strategy and execution to prove you can walk the talk.
This one is a real behavioural issue. To take the actions that will right this wrong, we have to take a deep dive into psychology and sociology.
The psychology of property porn
Social platforms have transformed property from transaction to performance. We’re forming parasocial relationships with homes rather than moving into them.
Here’s what’s actually happening in your brain:
The dopamine trap. Every swipe through a luxury listing triggers the same reward pathways as poker machines. Your brain doesn’t fully distinguish between achievable goals and fantasy. It just knows it wants more. Room scrolling has become as habitual as doom scrolling.
Identity crisis meets impossible standards. Gen Z uses consumption to build identity. But when property - the ultimate purchase - remains perpetually out of reach, it creates a self-worth crisis. You’re not just failing to buy a house; you’re failing to become who you’re supposed to be.
Comparison on steroids. Social media did this to body image first. Now it’s doing it to housing. When your feed is full of 25-year-olds in harbour-view penthouses, your perfectly fine apartment feels like failure.
And lastly (not to be crude here), like actual porn, property porn is giving us an unrealistic, unhealthy and perhaps even dangerous perspective on what even constitutes a property.
When shelter becomes strategy
Australia has allowed property to become both basic need and financial vehicle - often with disastrous results. Home prices climb not just because people want to live in them, but because they need a “safe” way to invest. And it’s crowding out younger generations in the process.
According to a Grattan Institute report, housing makes up most of Australia’s wealth. Meanwhile, Australia ranks among the least diversified G20 countries when it comes to investment. We’re addicted to property. It’s our stock market, our retirement plan, our status symbol.
The generational reset
Here’s what most communicators miss: we’re not dealing with one housing crisis, we’re dealing with three completely different generational relationships to property and we need to understand how to communicate to each one of them.
Millennials are the tragic heroes here. They are still chasing their parents’ property lottery wins, not comprehending that Boomer housing gains were a historical anomaly, like finding oil in your backyard. They’re taking on crushing mortgages hoping for similar returns. It’s no different to buying Bitcoin at $60,000 because someone else bought at $10. It’s still not a bad investment, just not what it was.
Gen Z has already mentally checked out. They expect to rent forever, but they’re still measuring their self-worth against ownership ideals. It’s like being dumped but still checking their Instagram. The resentment is real and it’s shaping every housing conversation. The upside is resentment and anger can drive action. We need to tap into that.
Gen Alpha is where it gets spicy. Of course it’s also by far the least talked about. These kids are watching their Gen Z siblings accept permanent renting as normal. They’re growing up in a world where flexibility trumps fixed addresses, where digital assets matter more than physical ones. In 15 years, they won’t see property as an investment vehicle - they’ll see it as an expensive liability that limits their options. The irony here is this generation will likely solve the housing problem due to being smart innovators and truly believing that housing is a human right.
Smart communicators need to stop solving for Millennial anxiety or talking about Gen Z like they haven’t already had purchasing power for 10 years or more. Start preparing now for Gen Alpha reality that’s coming.
Now you’ve got the theory, what can actually be done about it? This is Act after all… Let’s start with a bad idea:
The interest rate paradox
Here’s a perfect example of how policy designed to help actually reinforces fantasy: financial markets expect the Reserve Bank of Australia to slash interest rates four more times this year, with the cash rate expected to fall to 3.1% by the end of 2025. Lower interest rates will increase borrowing capacity and buyer demand, lifting prices.
So the “solution” to unaffordable housing is... making it more expensive? This is what happens when policy treats symptoms instead of causes. Rate cuts are designed to make borrowing easier, but in our overheated market, they just pour more fuel on the fire.
It’s the perfect metaphor for how we’re still solving for the wrong problem. Instead of asking “how do we make it easier to buy overpriced houses?”, we should be asking “how do we create housing people can actually afford?”.
The foreign buyer scapegoat
The Federal Government’s two-year ban on foreign investors purchasing existing homes, announced as part of its $21 billion housing plan is classic policy theatre: dramatic, headline-grabbing and completely missing the point.
Foreign buyers are a convenient villain because they’re external, visible and easy to blame (and blaming them plays into the xenophobia that still afflicts too many people here). But they’re also a tiny fraction of the actual problem. It’s like trying to fix a flood by banning people from using garden hoses while ignoring the burst dam upstream.
This is exactly what happens when policy targets symptoms rather than systemic issues. We get solutions that feel satisfying - “finally, someone’s doing something!” – while the fundamental problems remain untouched. Meanwhile, the real structural issues – zoning laws, construction bottlenecks, speculative investment by locals – continue unchallenged.
International models that actually work
Build-to-rent (BTR) developments are quietly revolutionising Australian housing while everyone’s distracted by mansion porn. Rather than apologising for being rentals, they’re selling security, community, longer leases and sometimes rent-to-buy pathways.
This model isn’t new or innovative; it’s very mature in markets within the US and the UK. In Australia the cost of construction means that only higher-end BTR developments are pushing through to completion, and while still unaffordable for the masses, it represents a good shift in narrative and perspective.
In Berlin, entire generations rent without shame. In Copenhagen, co-housing is aspirational, not desperate. Singapore’s HBD (Housing and Development Board which is responsible for social housing) flats house 80% of the population in dignity. These are blueprints being ignored because they don’t photograph well for the portals.
Explain
How big ideas are translated into words that resonate, build identity and set the context for a smart conversationWhy cinemas' messaging missed the mark.
How we talk about innovation in housing
The State of the Housing System 2025 report, released in May by the National Housing Supply and Affordability Council, says the country will fall about 375,000 short of the nationally agreed target of building 1.2 million new homes by mid-2029.
When NSW Premier Chris Minns announced a major modular housing initiative on July last year, it wasn’t met with the outrage you’d expect - at least, not entirely. The broader media and public response was surprisingly open, if not outright optimistic. It hit all the points that come up when addressing the housing crisis: lower construction costs, building at scale, building fast and being environmentally conscious. That said, the conversation still exposed deep fractures in how we talk - and think - about housing innovation in Australia.
The public narrative keeps getting dragged back into false frames: modular equals “temporary”, “demountable”, “makeshift” or even “glorified granny flats”. Critics focus on aesthetics and assumptions rather than performance and policy potential. Even when experts and housing advocates welcomed Minns’ announcement, concerns about outdated perceptions took centre stage.
But in places like Victoria and Western Sydney, modular construction is already proving itself, delivering homes up to 20% faster, with 40% less waste, and at a significantly lower cost than traditional methods. In some cases, families move in just six weeks after the first nail is hammered. This isn’t some fringe experiment; it’s part of a global housing evolution, with proven success in Sweden, Japan and across Europe.
Modular housing isn’t suffering from a construction problem; it’s suffering from a communication one. If the comms from the government is hitting all the right talking points, then what’s going wrong?
The upside of honesty
Every housing conversation gets hijacked by the same tired scripts because we haven’t given people better language to work with. It’s meeting people where they actually are instead of where the marketing deck wishes they were.
Here’s how the discourse can be shifted:
Start with shared frustration. Don’t lead with your modular housing project or build-to-rent development. Lead with “Yeah, this is completely fucked, isn't it?” Acknowledge the collective trauma first. When you validate people’s reality before pitching alternatives, they actually listen to what comes next. It’s the same advice we give to business leaders in crisis: empathise first.
Make the math visceral, not abstract. Instead of “housing affordability has declined”, try “your parents bought their house for three-times their annual salary, so you need to earn $400,000 to afford the same deal today”. People connect with stories about unfairness before they connect with statistics.
Flip the shame narrative. Stop letting renting be the consolation prize in every conversation. When someone says “I’m still renting”, the response should be: “Smart – you've got flexibility and cash flow most homeowners wish they had”. Make ownership sound like the risky bet it actually is.
Use their language, not yours. Gen Z doesn't say “alternative housing models”. They say “this landlord situation is actually sick” or “why would I tie up all my money in one asset?”. Match their energy and vocabulary. Stop translating everything into policy-speak.
Create permission to want different things. The most powerful comms shift is giving people permission to want something different than their parents had. What if the goal wasn't a mortgage, but having money left over for actual life?
Amplify
A conversation means someone has to listen and respond. Cleverly amplifying the message to the right audience, at the right time, is the final piece of the puzzle.
The attention economy is broken. Let’s break it back.
Real estate platforms operate on survival of the clickiest: the most extreme properties get the most views, training algorithms to serve more extremes. It’s a feedback loop designed for engagement, not education. The algorithm doesn’t actually care if content is realistic or fantastic. It just cares if people engage. So let’s give it reality worth sharing.
The content that’s actually cutting through isn’t about making spaces prettier but making different choices altogether. Young people sharing the math on why they’re investing their deposit in shares instead of property. International voices showing how other countries have solved housing without everyone needing to own. Myth-busting content that challenges the assumptions we’ve been fed about what constitutes “success”.
Time-lapse construction content is pure internet gold. There’s something hypnotic about watching a house go from concrete slab to move-in ready in 60 seconds. But instead of showing another McMansion rising from the suburbs, show a modular build that goes up in weeks, not months. Show the Swedish factory where walls get precision-cut by robots. Make speed and sustainability as seductive as marble countertops.
The power of unlikely messengers
The most compelling voices in housing right now aren’t coming from where you might expect. Skip the real estate agents in Aston Martins and the property developers with jaw-dropping concept art. The people actually shifting conversations are the finance creators doing mortgage vs. investment calculations, or the nomadic professionals showing what location independence actually looks like.
Young architects are designing for actual humans instead of Instagram feeds. They’re creating spaces that work with how people live now: multi-functional, adaptable, sustainable. When they show their work, they don’t talk about square footage or property values. They talk about how spaces make you feel, how they adapt to your life, how they connect you to the community.
Platform strategy that doesn't suck
TikTok and Instagram Reels are where generational housing attitudes are actually being formed right now. This is where young people are learning that renting doesn’t have to mean beige walls and tyrant landlords. Partner with the creators who are already making rentals look incredible. Amplify international voices showing different cultural norms around housing. Create day-in-the-life content from alternative housing that feels aspirational, not apologetic.
LinkedIn is where the decision-makers are lurking, quietly absorbing data about changing demographics while publicly defending traditional models. This is where you share the case studies of successful alternative models, the international benchmarking reports that make Australia look backwards, and the ROI calculations that make build-to-rent look like genius instead of compromise.
Traditional media still shapes policy conversations, even if nobody admits it. But they’re desperate for stories that aren’t just another press release about housing initiatives. Give them human stories. Give them conflict between old models and new realities. Give them access to innovative projects that photograph well.
Picks & Recs
Presenting SKMG’s moderately-priced property dreams
Andrew
Like many white men between the ages of 20 and 40 who have made Japan their whole personality, an akiya (or abandoned home) that sits within Shinkansen-shot of Tokyo but is nestled firmly in snow country, tops my list of completely affordable dreams. Not only can you score a bargain under $50,000 but you’re spoiled for choice.
Land a real cheapy and you can even become a pretty successful YouTuber without any discernible presenting talent, just like this guy.
Neil
What can $US100 buy you in Hawaii? A house. 54-192 Kawaeku St, Hauula, HI 96717 | MLS #202513185 | Zillow. OK, it’s not in a great area and clearly needs a bit of TLC. The ad doesn’t show any of the exterior but does note “There has been recent suicide on the property”. Not ideal, but it is Hawaii. Goes to auction on 30 June, so hurry.
Sam
Presenting PITHOS. This delightful little two bedroom apartment in Marseille is priced at a nice €250,000. Okay, it’s at the upper-end of “moderately-priced” but it is one of the cheapest properties listed on Archik Real Estate’s website.
Tess
It’s definitely the manufacturer of tiny homes called Hauslein.
However, this one in particular caught my eye, although I'd have to put my kids and husband up for adoption to get it.