This has been posted elsewhere as well, but part of it is specific to Australia so here we go again;
Marc Faber was interviewed on
Lateline;
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'A')NDREW ROBERTSON: How bad do you think that recession will be?
MARC FABER: Well, you don't want to know.
ANDREW ROBERTSON: Yes we do, that's why I asked you.
MARC FABER: I think it will be quite bad. Because if you look we had an incredible global boom. If you travelled around the world six months ago, everywhere we had boom conditions, and now in the US housing has started to go down, meaningfully in some areas we're down 30 per cent. In Las Vegas business is down. We have businesses that have contracted, so the imports into the United States will slow down. This will have an impact on the Chinese export industries, and as China then slows down it will have an impact on the raw material producers of the world, the demand for commodities will probably no longer expand. It will lead to some discomfort among the commodities producers and among the export industries of Europe and Japan. I think it will be quite bad, yes.
ANDREW ROBERTSON: When you say raw materials producers, of course, Australia is one of the biggest. So you're suggesting that Australia will be hit hard?
MARC FABER: Well, I think that Australia will also get hit for two reasons: first of all, household balance sheets are not in a good position. The typical Australian household is very leveraged, is highly geared and the property market here is in for, in my opinion, quite a serious downturn. And so I think the Australian economy will be hit actually quite hard.
ANDREW ROBERTSON: You think a downturn of US-style housing slump type proportions?
MARC FABER: Yes, could be larger.
ANDREW ROBERTSON: Could be larger?
MARC FABER: Yes, could be larger.
ANDREW ROBERTSON: Well, we have, as you would know, what's loosely called a two-speed economy. Where do you see this slowdown hitting hardest, is it the eastern States or the West of the country which is based on commodity exports?
MARC FABER: Well, I think that if you look at, say, prices in Sydney and in Melbourne, they would seem to me to be on the high side. And, of course, obviously if commodity prices come down then the property market in Perth will also ease and possibly quite considerably.
may also be aware that he has advised people to stay away from long term property investments for now. (Indicated he thought coming 1-2 years would see slumping property prices.)