I've always blamed home the recent rise in house prices in the combination of supply/demand for houses in a nice/convenient area and easy access to money. I like this paragraph explanation from Macquarie Bank found in a The Age opinion piece on the housing crisis:

To understand the affordability problem, it must be understood how it was created. The best analysis is provided by Macquarie Bank economist Rory Robertson: "My summary is that the 75 per cent rise in home prices relative to wages over the past two decades largely reflects the fixed supply of well-located homes — near our CBDs and/or the coast — being swamped in a huge increase in demand for well-located homes. The latter was driven by the halving of nominal interest rates and greatly expanded access to housing finance, a record increase in Australia's population, and the halving of capital gains tax for investors, on top of 'negative gearing' and depreciation arrangements."

A combination of many things. But politics doesn't like grey.

TiVo details still vague, all speculation at the moment except the "ballpark" $10 a month subscription. Will the box cost anything? Talk of subscribing to TV shows, video-on-demand, buying "seasons passes". All nice ideas, depending on cost.