An analysis of the cost of housing showed a number of contributing factors
Price of land. The move in 2017 to a dual system of land ownership of existing freehold and new land (mainly from State Forests) provided under a low cost leasehold system, meant that the first time home owners could start off without the heavy burden of buying land.
Cost of building
The social acceptance of smaller houses reduced the cost of building.
Similarly starting at a simple level, encouraged design where the components of a house could dismantled and moved to another site if expansion was required or the owner aspired to freehold ownership.
Elsewhere the localisation of sewage processing and power storage at each home contributed to this flexibility.
In existing houses or where larger houses are built, design requirements ensure that house can be divided into 2 or more residents. This meant that extra accommodation could be provided in the case of emergencies - there were still floods- and for visiting tourists.