Consider the following article on Australian house prices.

Sydney, Melbourne property among world's most expensive

By Duncan Hughes (The Australian Financial Review, 22 January 2020)

Sydney and Melbourne's median residential property prices are only lower than world-leading Hong Kong and Vancouver,despite the recent sharp local market downturn, according to the latest Demographia global survey of housing affordability.

...

Strong pent-up demand from first-time buyers, investors and owner occupiers is expected to be boosted from Hong Kong, where political and social unrest is expected to increase interest in safer markets.

...

The report blames state and federal urban consolidation policies that restrict the amount of new land made available for developing new housing estates, typically on urban fringes.

...

Bob Day, a former contributor to the Demographia report, ex-senator and former national president of the Housing Industry Association, said: "The local housing problem is simple demand and supply. Land is being prevented from being used for houses by state and federal governments."

...

"The real culprit is the refusal of governments to provide an adequate and affordable supply of land for new housing stock to meet demand," he said. "The 'scarcity' that drives up land prices is wholly contrived - it is a matter of political choice, not geographic reality."

...

Property agents expect that strong demand from buyers will pick up from where it left off at the end of 2019 when weekend auctions resume after the summer break on February 1.

...

(Source: https://www.afr.com/property/residential/sydney-melbourne-property-among-world-s-most-expensive-20200122-p53tm6)

Q10 The article discusses the reasons for high house prices in Australia. Identify the factors mentioned in the article affecting the demand and supply of housing and explain how they affect the demand and supply curves.

Q11 Using the article in Question 10, explain how the factors you identified affect house prices. Is the article describing a situation that is consistent with a housing shortage or surplus? Explain why.