Australian home buyers are battling record-high mortgage debt and an affordability crisis, but are not alone.
In Victoria, legislation will be introduced this year to stamp out the scourge of underquoting. In Sydney, prices have dropped for the first time in three years, on the back of a boom, but a median-priced home is still out of reach of dual-income families.
But governments around the world have been confronted with real estate issues that make buying in Melbourne and Sydney's property markets look like child's play. 
Here is how different cities have tackled competition, fairness and pricing in real estate.
  New York, USA            
The New York City city skyline past Stuyvesant Town-Peter Cooper Village, Manhattan's largest apartment complex. Photo: Michael Nagle
The government introduced the Fair Housing Enforcement Program to flush out discrimination and ensure a level playing field for buyers of all ages, races, disabilities and economic positions.
Much as Consumer Affairs in Victoria is auditing results of auctions to identify suspected underquoting, the NYC governor's office is sending dummy buyers into the market and analysing the results.
The testers, of varying appearance and financial situations, pretend to be looking to buy a home and document their treatment by agents. If discrimination is alleged, the agency is investigated and risks prosecution.
  Vancouver, Canada            
City block and apartments overlooking Granville Island pier in Vancouver. Photo: Kim Stallknecht
Suspected instances of "shadow flipping" - a term for when a property is resold multiple times, making profit each time for the agent - has recently been exposed.
A clause in selling contracts in Canada allows for a property to be sold again by the buyer before the settlement date.
The clause is there so buyers can back out, but some agents are abusing the system and are accused of hiking the price with each re-listing, pocketing higher commissions on every occasion. Some experts blame the practice, which is not illegal and exploits a loop hole, on pricing house-hunters out of the market.
  Paris, France            
Homes in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower, Paris. Photo: Fabrice Dimier
To ease the housing shortage, the government is cracking down on Airbnb rentals.
Last months, officials raided apartments in the 1st and 6th arrondissements, following a similar sweep of Marais last year. The purpose was to find landlords who have been leasing their apartment, on short-term agreements, for more than the legal limit of 120 days a year.
Officials hope the audit will free up more properties for local renters who want to live in the capital - it's a market that is difficult to get into. A recent survey found 44 per cent of Paris rentals on Airbnb are permanently available to holidaying tenants.
  London, England            
London's grand   Mayfair district. Photo: Mark Lakomcsik
A new stamp duty regime was introduced in 2014, abolishing the "slab structure", with sudden and sharp increases, which taxed properties by price band.
The aim was to ease the pinch of rising house prices for low and middle-income families by upping the levy for those buying luxury properties.
The government estimated that 98 per cent of home buyers in Britain would pay less stamp duty under the changes, and data showed that largely was achieved. Only those paying $1.8 million-plus for a home were hit with higher stamp duty.
  Doha, Qatar            
Former Socceroos captain Lucas Neill in Doha, Qatar. Photo: Robert Cianflone
Since the country won the right to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup, the price of properties around the stadiums under construction - and neighbouring areas - has rocketed.
It hasn't helped home owners - investors are building luxury properties, not family-friendly houses, in order to make the biggest windfall possible.
With soccer's governing body in crisis and Cup voting under scrutiny, the situation was precarious - had Qatar been stripped of the event, amid a cloud of controversy, property prices around the new facilities would have plummeted.