They must have been using the term "Bay area" pretty liberally or the "shock" was faux (no, those shows aren't real!!). Median 1 bedroom price in San Francisco is $3,590 (https://www.zumper.com/blog/2016/03/mapping-san-franciscos-rent-prices-march-2016/).
It's totally possible to find a 1BR outside of the city proper for less than 2400$. Anyway both SFBA and Sydney are insane bubbles so just sit back and be patient.
Do they ?? I handed a 160K+(USD) unpaid debt to a collection agency a few months back in Hk, and they haven't collected a dime yet. You'd think for that kind of commissions the agency would put up significant pressure but the debtor doesn't seem that much disturbed. I also happened to receive calls and letters from debt collectors years back in Europe and never gave half a s**t. From this and other threads, it appears you should toughen up Overnight (Throwing insults left and right on an internet forum doesn't count as beeing tough btw)
The area around the Sydney Harbor Bridge is smack downtown Sydney in a very expensive area, equivalent to the Marina/North Beach/Russian Hill in SF. To compare that to what you can rent for in Hayward or even Foster City isn't anywhere near an apples to apples comparison, and as such is entirely pointless. By the way, I've been waiting to buy a house on a dip in SF since I first moved there in 1998. Prices have moved monotonically upward ever since, even in the dot com bust and 2008 crisis they only stopped moving up, never dipped. Clearly your patience needs to be on a geological timescale if you're applying it to the SF housing "bubble".
US collection agencies are on steroids compared to those in Europe. Same is true about solicitations eg we have a national do not call list you can sign up for, it does zero good.
*shrugs* I only speak from personal experience. I've been on the business end of collection agencies. Takes 7 years in the U.S. for unsettled debts to clear from your credit file. And in those 7 years, they make your life a living hell.
You may have to wait for a lot longer. Why would Chinese demand abate any time soon? It's the main driving force behind Auckland, Sydney, Vancouver, Toronto, and SF property price bubbles.
SF prices mean very limited home buying options for first responders, teachers, even for doctors http://blog.sfgate.com/ontheblock/2...limited-home-buying-options-even-for-doctors/
Millions of people just getting by? It all comes down to choices, brother. Choices... Consumption now or consumption tomorrow. A choice.