Barefoot Investor's blistering message for Aussies complaining about falling house prices: 'We forgot what homes are for'

By NICHOLAS COMINO, POLITICAL REPORTER, AUSTRALIA Published: 02:46, 9 August 2026 | Updated: 02:50, 9 August 2026 The Barefoot Investor has defended falling house prices, arguing the real estate market has been treated like 'share prices' for too long and left too many young homebuyers locked out. Scott Pape dismissed claims the recent weakness in housing should be seen as a crisis, saying small price drops were unlikely to unwind the massive gains property owners have enjoyed over the past 20 years. Australian property values continued to slide in July, with home prices recording another significant monthly fall as higher borrowing costs and tax policy uncertainty deterred buyers. Data from property analytics firm Cotality revealed national dwelling values fell 0.7 per cent for the month, the steepest monthly drop since late 2022, deepening the current downturn. Annual growth also slowed, with prices up 5.3 per cent compared to much larger gains seen earlier in the year. The downturn has hit the country's two largest cities hardest, with Sydney home values down 1.4 per cent in July and Melbourne falling 1.2 per cent. Both are now more than five per cent below their peaks. Pape's comments come as the market pulls back after years of boom, fuel for growing warnings from the real estate industry about tumbling values and sluggish auctions. Pape said fears about falling prices often missed the bigger picture. Barefoot Investor Scott Pape (pictured) supported falling house prices in Australia According to Cotality, combined capital city dwelling values slid 2.5 per cent over the June quarter, yet overall prices remain 3.9 per cent higher than this time last year. 'The market is colder than a mother-in-law's kiss,' Pape wrote. 'But even if prices fell 10 per cent, they'd only be back where they were in late 2024.' Pape said any downturn should be viewed in the context of the extraordinary housing boom of the past 25 years. He pointed out the average house price has surged by more than 400 per cent since 2000, far outpacing wage growth and feeding into Australia's affordability woes. 'This is a correction we've needed for 20 years,' he wrote. Pape said the housing downturn had been partly driven by government reforms designed to reduce investor demand, including scrapping the 50 per cent capital gains tax discount and winding back negative gearing concessions for existing homes.  'The government set out to make property investing less attractive, and they get the gold star,' he wrote. Pape welcomed the cooling housing market arguing it would help young and first home buyers He said many investors had always banked on one thing, that prices would keep climbing. 'The only way the sums ever worked long-term was the price going up at a constant clip,' Pape wrote. Without strong capital gains, he said, investors are left with all the headaches of property ownership for underwhelming returns. Pape also highlighted shifting public attitudes towards housing. He cited a Resolve Political Monitor poll showing 61 per cent of Australians want prices to fall, including many existing homeowners. He argued the survey shows growing concerns about young Australians struggling to get their start in the market. 'That sounds kind of mad, a couple hoping their biggest asset drops in value, until you clock the 28-year-old still asleep in the back bedroom,' he wrote. Pape said Australia had lost sight of the true purpose of housing, treating homes more like shares than shelter and celebrating soaring values regardless of affordability. Scott Pape (pictured) said that Australians had treated housing prices like a share market 'Somewhere along the way we started treating houses like a share price,' he wrote. 'We forgot what they're actually for... A house is for living in.' While some in the property sector have warned of the risks from falling prices, Pape said the biggest alarm is coming from those whose livelihoods are tied to rising values and fast turnover. 'When the news runs around with its hair on fire about 'the crash', look at who's actually panicking,' he wrote. 'It's not the young couple who might finally get a foot in the door. It's the bloke with the Audi lease.'