I'm old enough to have seen that things definitely do go in cycles and you're right, property values have decreased about 10%, at least here in the Melbourne suburbs. I think it was a correction that had to come. The market was buoyant & confident 2 years ago.

I've sensed a bit more hesitation in the market though since at least mid last year. The trouble I think comes down to the fact that the average worker just isn't earning the sort of income that could justify such high house prices. It was out of proportion.

Coupled with that is the fact a lot of people have what i would call huge mortgages and now there is talk of interest rates rising eventually (which is pretty much a certainty, given how low they have been).

So possibly quite a few people aren't quite as confident as they were a couple of years ago. Or not your low to middle income earners, anyway.

People are still spending money but perhaps they might be thinking a bit more carefully about the non essential items before splurging.