Very nice article on some of the big problems our modern society faces! Well written and clearly based on solid research. You got my upvote :)
One thing: you state that the governments benefit from the high housing prices. This is obviously not true in the long run (cause we are the government), and also short term aren't the high mortgages heavily reducing the purchasing power and therefore reducing the general tax income?
In regards to government it is quite interesting. Government generally do not care that much about the long-run as problems caused by the current government are often pushed onto future governments. That future government then blames it all on the previous governments and claim that they are doing a good job at resolving these problems.
High house prices are reducing disposable income, therefore could result in less spending and a reduction in GST income. What is happening in many cases is that people are able to maintain their current levels of expenditure by working more hours and getting additional part-time jobs. People are also making more purchases on credit cards. In the long-run, none of this is sustainable.