The history of residential real estate in Australia is, in one sense, a story of defiance. Economists and journalists keep predicting dire outcomes and property markets keep proving them wrong. 2023 has provided a wonderful case study for that. The year began with a plethora of predictions from the usual suspects – senior economists working for the Big 4 banks, the nation’s worst real estate forecaster Shane Oliver from AMP Capital, and a host of others. The common feature of their forecasts was that prices, they said, would fall in 2023.