Australian property obsession becomes election battleground

Sydney

AUSTRALIANS' obsession with property has moved from dominating conversations by the barbecue to potentially helping decide its next government.

A popular tax law that gives a break to landlords is poised to be a key issue for voters in an election tipped for early July. The measure, known as negative gearing, has helped stoke a surge in property prices. The flip side: rising unaffordability - which the opposition Labor Party is trying to capitalise on with a pledge to curb the tax break.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, whose popularity is sliding, has spied an opportunity. He is betting that Australians - among the most privately indebted people in the world - will recoil from any threat to their home's value. The leader, who owns a portfolio of investment properties himself, has berated Labor's policy as a "reckless" threat to most families' biggest asset, and one that could savage the entire housing mark…