There is a Chinese proverb – qi hu nan xia – once you're riding the tiger, you can't get off; the longer you ride, the more dangerous the dismount. For 40 years, Australia rode the housing tiger, and it was beautiful for those on the property ladder and the industries built around keeping it moving: agents, brokers, conveyancers, listing portals and the rest. But over the past 10 weeks, this has come to a sudden stop.
