Abstract: International housing policy has becoming increasingly responsive to, shaped by, and structured to work within the dynamics of the housing market, whether in terms of determining responses to supply/demand imbalances or providing solutions to imperfections that the market itself creates. Reflecting a recognition of ‘market as problem; market as solution’, there has been a parallel increase in policy and research interest in the UK and US leading to the development of frameworks which facilitate a better understanding of housing market dynamics, both in terms of drivers and impacts (Bramley et al, 2004; Katz, 2006). Despite a strong reliance on the market to deliver housing and renewal outcomes, Australia has been somewhat sluggish in getting metropolitan planners, LGAs and stakeholders working collaboratively to better understand housing markets and their policy implications. Sydney’s City of Cities (Department of Planning, 2005) identifies the role of a subregional approach in translating subregional ‘targets’, based on capacity rather than market dynamics, into numbers to guide housing market assessment at LGA level. However, given the dominance of housing supply-side rather than demand-led approaches, this paper raises the question whether Sydney – and indeed other Australian cities which have benefited recently from the development of Metropolitan strategies – will struggle to translate those plans into practice, certainly in terms of broader social equity and housing affordability concerns.