Here's a piece of information that contradicts the development lobby's claim that land will be cheaper if governments increase the supply of land - and it comes from the development lobby.

The Urban Development Institute of Australia has published data from Western Australia - showing that the number of vacant allotments made available for sale increased 85.5% in the March quarter.

According to the development lobby, especially the Housing Industry Association, this should result in land prices dropping. The HIA has been banging on for some time about the need to increase land supply to lower land prices, and thereby improve affordability.

But in Western Australia land prices rose 8% in the March quarter - that's an annual rate of over 35% - despite the massive increase in land supply.

It's just one more piece of evidence showing how simplistic and self-serving the HIA and others are being in the arguments.

The first meaningful signal of the future consequences on property from climate change has come from Tasmania. A local council has been told by its professional staff that it should refuse a building application because of the risk of rising sea levels from global warning.

We've written previously on

Sometimes I read what property journalists write and shake my head. So often it's clear that the writer doesn't understand the market and has limited knowledge of the subject matter.

Here's one small example in The Age newspaper. An article on the national residential market starts by saying that "the Perth boom seems to be finally running out of puff".

This is a strange statement, given that the Perth boom started to run out of puff

Further to our recent item on the Haves-and-Have-Nots economy, which translates into real estate outcomes, here are some more snippets on how the booming economy is delivering great wealth to the upper end and hardship at the other extreme.

St George Bank, which recently reported record profits, has announced it's out-sourcing more jobs to India to save money. That results in job losses in Australia.

CSR, after reporting a net profit of $240 million, has announced it will close its Strathpine, Brisbane, brick-paver factory to save money. About 50 people will lose their jobs.

Mining giant Rio Tinto, which has enjoyed the fruits of the resources boom more than most, has stood down 160 coal mine workers at its Tarong mine because of water shortages.

The head of Central Queensland University, who has just been granted a 40% pay rise (to almost $700,000 a year), has responded by announcing staff cuts to save money.

These are just a few examples of the separation between those who are reaping the rewards of the booming economy and those who are not - which has left us with a two-speed property market, with the upper end surging and the rest not.

The latest figures from ABARE show the enormity of the resources boom: advanced projects around Australia now total a record $43.4 billion.

ABARE is the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics, which publishes a

The obscene salaries

Perth doesn't have the water issues that other major cities have because it already has a desalination plant providing a large chunk of the city's water supply needs.

And now the Western Australia State Government has announced a plan to build a second desalination plant. The $955 million facility will be built south of Perth near Bunbury. According to reports, it will cost $640 milliion to build and another $315 million to integrate it into the state's water supply system.

Perth's first desalination plant, a $400 million facility at Kwinana, was opened earlier this year. The second plant is expected to be providing water by 2011.

I'm glad I'm not a home buyers trying to negotiate the maze of Melbourne's auction system. You see a house you like, you note from the agents' ads that it's in your price range, you spend large sums on building and pest inspections, you spend time on due diligence and organising your finance - and then you turn up at the auction and the bidding starts at a price higher than the advertised price.

This scenario is not the exception but the rule in Melbourne real estate. This enormously-frustrating circumstance is played out every weekend around the Victorian capital because auction agents routinely, knowingly and deliberately under-quote prices in their marketing.

It's illegal but they get away with it because the Consumer Affairs Minister in Victoria does nothing about it. His name is Daniel Andrews and, as a politician whose job is to protect real estate consumers, he's something of a joke. Recently he defended the Real Estate Institute of Victoria, saying: "I want to congratulate the REIV on its leadership on this."

Some years ago I researched under-quoting for a magazine article. My research found that 91% of auction ads greatly under-quoted the eventual selling price. Because this was such a huge problem the Victoria State Government made under-quoting illegal in 2004.

But nothing has changed. Research by The Age newspaper has found that auction properties commonly sell for 25% more than the advertised quote. But Consumer Affairs Victoria has not prosecuted a single agent in three years.

Meanwhile, the REIV continues to defend the indefensible by claiming that a rapidly-rising market is to blame. This larger lie compounds all the smaller lies appearing in auction ads every weekend.