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The headline figures are startling: month-on-month the price of a median Aussie home is rising at its fastest rate in 32 years.

There are now entire generations – this author included – who in their lifetimes have never seen the chance of purchasing the Aussie dream slip away as rapidly.

But what's contributing to the electric market where crowds of potential bidders are willing to stand in a once-in-100-year rainstorm to bid for a Sydney semi?

READ MORE: Sydney real estate agents facing crackdown on underquoting

According to CoreLogic's Hedonic Home Value Index, nationally the median value of an Australian dwelling rose 2.8 per cent in March to $614,768.

That price includes both detached homes and units.

Buried in the data however, is potentially the reason why. The strength of the housing market, according to CoreLogic, is being "supported by a disconnect between demand and supply".

READ MORE: New generation of homeowners buying thanks to the bank of mum and dad

Tim Lawless, CoreLogic's research director, said buyer demand is so intense currently that it is outweighing the ability of sellers to put their property on the market.

"The ratio of sales to new listings is tracking at around 1.1, implying for every new listing added to the market, 1.1 homes are sold," Mr Lawless said.

"Such a rapid rate of absorption is keeping overall inventory levels low and adding to a sense of FOMO amongst buyers."

READ MORE: Boom time for Australia's residential property market

According to Corelogic, the national total listing numbers over the four weeks to the end of March show stock levels were 25.5 per cent below the five-year average.

Combine that with an auction clearance rate of consistently above 80 per cent, and you have a recipe for homes being pushed above reserve due to buyer demand, and a greater sense that if buyers don't "get in" now, they never will.

That sense of FOMO – or the fear of missing out – realises itself in packed auctions as more and more potential buyers throw their hat into the ring due to historic low interest rates and the availability of finance.

Quite simply, money is cheap.

READ MORE: Three-bedroom Sydney home sells for $9 million

And we seem to be borrowing more of it too. New data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) released today shows that the total value of new loan commitments for owner-occupier housing – that is people buying places where they actually want to live – was a staggering $21.7 billion in one month.

That's 55.2 per cent higher than it was in February 2020, prior to the COVID pandemic.

In February 2003, people were only borrowing $7 billion for their owner-occupier housing.

READ MORE: Sydney property prices hit all-time high

The question now remains, how long will this growth continue?

Going back to Corelogic, it appears that a slowing of growth is inevitable.

"While we are expecting housing values to continue rising throughout 2021 and well into next year, it is reasonable to expect the pace of growth will slow," researchers write.

"Earlier periods of similar exuberance have been previously quelled by factors such as rising interest rates, weaker economic conditions or changes to credit availability."

READ MORE: Huge number of Aussie homeowners considering sale

Speculation over what will trigger a fall in the property market now rests on three key indicators: whether interest rates will rise, whether government supports for first homebuyers will continue, and the prospect of restrictions on banks on how much money they are allowed to lend.

"Overall, housing markets are continuing to respond to a broad range of positive factors including record-low interest rates and recent economic conditions that have consistently beaten forecasts," summarise the analysts.

"In response, Australians are feeling optimistic and confident in making high commitment decisions related to the property market.

"The upswing in buyer demand has not been met with the same level of increase in inventory. This has resulted in strong selling conditions, amidst a palpable sense of urgency amongst buyers, putting upwards pressure on housing prices."

The information provided on this website is general in nature only and does not constitute personal financial advice. The information has been prepared without taking into account your personal objectives, financial situation or needs. Before acting on any information on this website you should consider the appropriateness of the information having regard to your objectives, financial situation and needs.

Federal Minister David Littleproud has hit back at comments made by Queensland's Deputy Premier Dr Steven Miles amid a growing stoush between the Commonwealth and state governments over the nation's COVID-19 vaccine rollout.

Dr Miles had suggested that Mr Littleproud's earlier criticism of the Queensland Government's COVID-19 rollout was an attempt to distract from the controversey surrounding embattled MP Andrew Laming.

Mr Miles also said "particularly offensive remarks" aimed at state governments over a slower than expected COVID vaccine rollout weren't needed, adding that Mr Littleproud should give the Federal Government "an uppercut" for not doing better.

However, Mr Littleproud has now responded to Mr Miles's comments by saying that he wouldn't be "lectured" by the former Queensland Health Minister. 

"I won't be lectured to by a man who was sacked as health minister and a government that was derelict in their duty of protecting their frontline health workers by not having them fully vaccinated before they treated COVID patients," the statement said. 

"His statements today also show why he and his government are incompetent, my statements pertained to assisting the Queensland government roll out the vaccines they've left in the rack rather than in health workers arms."

Mr Littlerpoud has also come under fire from other state governments, including the NSW Liberal Government, for his comments earlier this week.

NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard said the comments left him "as angry as I have ever been in this 15 months of war against this virus".

A man who shot dead his son and his son's girlfriend in South Australia has been sentenced life behind bars for their murders.

Pawel Klosowski this month pleaded guilty to murdering Lukasz Klosowski and Chelsea Ireland, both 19, at his property at Mount McIntyre, near Millicent, in August last year.

The 46-year-old was today sentenced to life in prison with a non-parole period of 34 years.

https://twitter.com/ellakduffy/status/1377406388457107456?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

The court was told Klosowski shot his son twice as he tried to run away before reloading and firing twice more through a locked bathroom door where Ms Ireland was hiding as she called Triple Zero.

Klosowski last month apologised to the victims' families for "acting like a monster".

But in a show of strength in court, both families stood up and left moments before Klosowski read out his apology letter.

Brisbane's three-day snap lockdown will end at midday today after just one new locally acquired case of COVID-19 was identified overnight.

The new local case is linked to an existing cluster, while another nine cases were diagnosed in hotel quarantine.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said "Easter is good to go" as she announced the ending of the lockdown.

LIVE UPDATES: Green light for Easter travel in NSW

She said the lockdown would lift early to avoid a rush of cars on the road.

"I understand a lot of families in the Greater Brisbane have made plans and the last thing we want to see are accidents on our roads at 5pm this afternoon into the evening," Ms Palaszczuk said.

"So if you have plans, the lockdown is lifted from 12 noon today and I encourage people to take care on the roads."

While the lockdown will lift today, a number of restrictions will remain in place for all of Queensland.

For the next two weeks from midday today until April 15, the following restrictions will apply:

• Mandatory masks in public indoor spaces, including shopping centres, indoor workplaces and public transport
• Masks must be carried whenever you leave home
• Patrons must remain seated at food and beverage establishments and the two-square-metre rule will apply
• Household gatherings will be limited to 30 people
• No dancing in public venues
• Outdoor events can proceed with a COVID-safe plan but if attendees are unable to socially distance, masks must be worn
• No personal visitors allowed at aged care homes, disability care, hospitals and correctional facilities, with some exceptions for end-of-life care

Easter church services have also been given the go-ahead, with the two-square-metre rule to apply and mask-wearing mandatory.

Churches may fill to 100 per cent capacity if they have a ticketed event.

The ban on visitors to aged care and disability facilities, hospitals and prisons will remain in place over Easter.

The restrictions will likely remain for the next fortnight, with only end-of-life visits permitted.

"They can't have other visitors which I know is very, very difficult over this Easter period," Queensland Chief Health Officer Dr Jeanette Young said.

"Hopefully when we get all of those sites vaccinated in the future, we won't have to do that again but we need to, at the moment, protect our most vulnerable."

Deputy Premier Steven Miles described the ongoing ban on visits to aged care homes as "particularly distressing" for residents and family members but "unfortunately necessary".

"Only a third of aged care residents have been vaccinated and almost no aged care workers have been vaccinated so far," he said.

"Similarly, very, very few residents of disability support accommodation have been vaccinated.

"Until we see a higher density of vaccination in aged care, then those lockdowns will need to continue to be applied if and when we have our outbreaks."

New local COVID-19 case 'not a risk at all'

Dr Young described the latest person to test positive in Queensland as "the perfect case".

The individual was one of those who attended the hen's party in Byron Bay last weekend.

"When the person came back to Queensland, they went into quarantine and they were tested on Monday night and they were negative on Monday night," Dr Young said.

"Then they were tested again Wednesday morning when they were positive, so they have been in quarantine during their infectious period – so not a risk at all."

Dr Young said the extensive COVID-19 testing being done made her "reasonably confident" Queensland was successfully managing its two clusters.

"The amount of testing over the last 48 hours has been astronomical," she said.

"Thank you to every single person who has come forward."

Outbreak 'not over'

Queensland's two outbreaks are "not over", Dr Young warned.

"We're not completely cleared yet," she said.

"We think we can manage it with those restrictions and with the response that we have seen from Queenslanders, but it doesn't mean the outbreak is over.

"It just means that I don't believe we need the lockdown to manage this outbreak going forward.

"We can use those other restrictions and the response that Queenslanders have put in."

She said it remained vital Queenslanders all followed the restrictions in place, particularly around wearing masks and limiting gatherings in private residences.

Dr Young noted most of the infections related to the current outbreak have occurred within private residences.

"We saw it with that party down at Byron Bay," she said.

"Those 11 people, they were in an Airbnb, so a private residence, and now all of them, virtually all of them, have become infected."

Returned overseas travellers 'a real risk'

There are now 82 active coronavirus cases being treated in hospitals across Queensland.

Of those, 68 are returned travellers and 14 are locally acquired cases.

"That's a real risk for us because I think we are the highest state in the country at the moment with the most number of active cases in hospital who are returned travellers from overseas," Ms Palaszczuk said.

"In light of that, I have written to the Prime Minister to ask for another further extension to the end of April in terms of reducing our capacity of returned travellers."

The state inoculated another 7596 high-priority individuals yesterday, with the total number vaccinated in the state now at 79,534.

"We give out our figures every day and it would be great to see the Commonwealth do exactly the same," Ms Palaszczuk said.

READ MORE: 'Let us help you', NSW says to Federal Government on vaccines

Dr Miles said the nine new overseas cases highlighted the ongoing risks posed by travellers bringing back new, highly infectious COVID-19 strains.

"I just underline again that we would not be facing risks like this if the Morrison Government had engaged with us on the construction of a national quarantine facility," he said.

The deputy premier said Queensland currently had just three days' supply of the Pfizer vaccine and 12 days' supply of the AstraZeneca vaccine and "at current rates that could be just eight to nine days".

"If you think about the fact that that is the vaccine that we are distributing to our regions and to our remote communities, we need ample supply of that to ensure our hospitals have it."

All frontline COVID-19 workers will be vaccinated by midday

All those working on the frontlines with individuals potentially infected with COVID-19 in Queensland will have been vaccinated by midday today, Dr Young said.

This includes paramedics, hotel quarantine staff and those working in COVID-19 wards in the state's hospitals.

She noted this did not apply to other frontline health workers who didn't work directly with COVID-19 patients, saying they would be vaccinated over the next month as part of the phase 1B vaccinations.

"My advice is that by midday today we believe that all of the 1A frontline workers who are looking after hotel quarantine or hospital cases will be vaccinated," Dr Young said.

"Remembering that people come in and out of that category – it's not a fixed category.

"We know that there are 37,000 but some of them will have gone back to other duties and other people will be coming in.

"But the requirement now is before you can actually come in and be a frontline worker looking after a positive case, you have to be vaccinated."

READ MORE: Gold Coast mayor urges tourists to 'take a punt and book'

Call to remove Brisbane as hotspot as travellers fly in to Queensland

Ms Palaszczuk said in a positive sign for the revival of the state's tourism industry, Gold Coast Airport recorded a record number of people flying in yesterday.

"I understand Cairns Airport is doing well as well, so we are expected a very good Easter," Ms Palaszczuk said.

"We're lifting Greater Brisbane as being a hotspot and I'm asking all other leaders across the country to consider doing the same as well."

"But if you are coming to Queensland, you'll have to abide by these restrictions in terms of mask-wearing, just as the same as everybody else.

"Really when you think about it, it's a small thing to do, but it means that we can go out, support our businesses, support our tourism industry, and spend time with our loved ones which is, you know, a really special time of the year."

One person fined for breaking lockdown

Police have handed out 572 masks to community members in the past 24 hours and conducted 92 inspections of businesses, Queensland Police Deputy Commissioner Steve Gollschewski revealed.

One young man was fined for breaching lockdown orders earlier today.

"Regrettably this morning a young male was issued with a penalty infringement notice for failing to comply with a health direction, that is not being out for a permitted purpose. In fact he was out for an unlawful purpose," Deputy Commissioner Gollschewski said.

Another person was issued with a notice to appear in court after refusing a police direction to wear a mask at Brookside Shopping Centre yesterday.

Facebook has introduced a new tool to allow users to control who comments on their posts.

The new tool is expected to help media companies, politicians and public figures limit potentially defamatory comments being made on their posts.

"By adjusting your commenting audience, you can further control how you want to invite conversation onto your public posts and limit potentially unwanted interactions," Facebook said in a statement on Wednesday.

"And if you're a public figure, creator, or brand, you too can choose to limit your commenting audience on your public posts to help you feel safe and engage in more meaningful conversations with your community."

LIVE UPDATES: Brisbane awaits COVID-19 lockdown decision

With the new tool users to choose from a range of restrictions on who can comment on their post – from everyone who can see the post, to only those who have been tagged by the profile or page in the post.

Facebook's move comes after a 2019 ruling in the NSW Supreme Court, which was upheld by the NSW Court of Appeal in June last year.

Former Northern Territory youth detainee Dylan Voller sued media outlets including The Sydney Morning Herald, The Australian, and Sky News Australia, over comments about him made on their Facebook pages.

The court found news media companies were liable for defamatory comments posted by users on their public Facebook pages.

Media outlets, including Nine Entertainment Co, the publisher of nine.com.au, are now preparing a High Court challenge to the ruling.

A parolee convicted of killing his mother nearly two decades ago was arrested on assault and hate crime charges in an attack on an Asian American woman in New York City.

Police said Brandon Elliot, 38, is the man seen on surveillance video kicking and stomping the woman near Times Square on Monday. They said Elliot was living at a hotel that serves as a homeless shelter a few blocks from the scene of the attack. He was taken into custody at the hotel around midnight. Tips from the public led to his apprehension, police said.

Elliot was convicted of stabbing his mother to death in the Bronx in 2002, when he was 19. He was released from prison in 2019 and is on lifetime parole. The parole board had previously twice denied his release. His record also included an arrest for robbery in 2000.

READ MORE: Security guard closes door on hate crime victim

“For the life of me, I don’t understand why we are releasing or pushing people out of prison — not to give them second chances, but to put them into homeless facilities or shelters, or in this case a hotel — and expect good outcomes,” Police Commissioner Dermot Shea said at a news conference.

“We need real opportunities. We need real safety nets.”

https://twitter.com/NYPDHateCrimes/status/1377133726694473735

Elliot faces charges of assault as a hate crime, attempted assault as a hate crime, assault and attempted assault in Monday's attack. It wasn't immediately known whether he had a lawyer who could speak on his behalf. He was expected to be arraigned by video Wednesday.

Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. said prosecutors will seek to have Elliot jailed without bail pending trial. He faces up to 25 years in prison if convicted, Vance said.

A law enforcement official identified the victim as 65-year-old Vilma Kari. The official was not authorised to speak publicly and did so on condition of anonymity. Ms Kari's daughter told The New York Times that she emigrated from the Philippines several decades ago.

Ms Kari, who was repeatedly kicked and stomped, suffered serious injuries including a fractured pelvis, the law enforcement official said. She was discharged from the hospital on Tuesday, a hospital spokesperson said. Ms Kari has been speaking to police, Mr Shea said.

Philippine Ambassador to the US Jose Manuel Romualdez said the victim is Filipina American.

The country's foreign secretary, Teodoro Locsin Jr., condemned the attack, writing on Twitter: “This is gravely noted and will influence Philippine foreign policy.” He didn't elaborate how.

The Philippines and United States are longtime treaty allies, but Philippine leader Rodrigo Duterte is a vocal critic of US security policies who has moved to terminate a key agreement that allows large scale military exercises with US forces in the Philippines.

“I might as well say it, so no one on the other side can say, 'We didn’t know you took racial brutality against Filipinos at all seriously.’ We do,” Mr Locsin said.

Ms Kari was walking to church in midtown Manhattan when police said Elliot kicked her in the stomach, knocked her to the ground, stomped on her face, shouted anti-Asian slurs and told her, “You don’t belong here” before casually walking away as onlookers watched. Mr Shea called it a “completely unprovoked violent attack on an innocent, defenceless woman.”

“This brave woman belongs here," Mr Vance said. "Asian American New Yorkers belong here. Everyone belongs here.”

Monday's attack, among the latest in a national spike in anti-Asian hate crimes, drew widespread condemnation and concerns about the failure of bystanders to intervene. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio called the attack “absolutely disgusting and outrageous” and said it was “absolutely unacceptable” that witnesses didn't help the woman.

The attack happened just weeks after a mass shooting in Atlanta that left eight people dead, six of them women of Asian descent, and just a few days after a 65-year-old Asian American woman in the same midtown Manhattan neighborhood was threatened and heckled with anti-Asian slurs. The surge in violence has been linked in part to misplaced blame for the coronavirus pandemic and former President Donald Trump’s use of terms like "Chinese virus".

Monday's attack happened in the late morning in front of a luxury apartment building in Hell’s Kitchen, a predominantly white neighborhood west of Times Square. Two workers inside the building who appeared to be security guards were seen on video witnessing the attack but failing to come to the woman’s aid. One of them was seen closing the building door as the woman was on the ground.

READ MORE: Suspect blames sex addiction for alleged murder of Asian masseuses

The building’s management company said they were suspended pending an investigation. The workers’ union said they called for help immediately.

Residents of the building defended the workers on Wednesday in a letter to the management company and the media. They contend that a video clip focusing on the suspect and the assault was “unfortunately cut to inadvertently exclude the compassionate action” taken by the staff, which they said included giving the victim aid and alerting medics.

Detective Michael Rodriguez said there were no 911 calls. He said patrol officers driving by came upon the victim after she was assaulted.

This year in New York City, there have been 33 hate crimes with an Asian victim as of Sunday, police said. There were 11 such attacks by the same time last year. The NYPD last week said it was increasing outreach and patrols in predominantly Asian communities, including the use of undercover officers to prevent and disrupt attacks.

“This is crucial to the equation,” Mr de Blasio said of the new policing efforts. "It’s a very few people but we need to find each and every one of them and stop this.”

READ MORE: 'Is this patriot enough?': Asian American shows military scars

A man accused of smashing up the Dunedin City Council’s reception area before he was subdued by armed police allegedly threatened to kill a judge and a high-profile lawyer.The defendant, aged in his 40s, was granted interim name…