Scott Morrison says housing affordability is a complex issue and the Turnbull government intends to spend a lot of time getting the right policies in place.
"We are not going to go off on one-issue solutions," the treasurer told Sydney's 2GB radio on Monday, ahead of delivering a lunchtime address to the Urban Development Institute lunch.
He will push the states to make buying a new home more attainable, conceding that the great Australian dream is increasingly unaffordable.
While it has always been hard to buy a house, Mr Morrison concedes it is even harder now.
"While the majority of Australians live in a home that is either owned or being purchased by their household, for each new generation this aspiration is proving more and more difficult to realise," he will say.
Mr Morrison will foreshadow discussions with state treasurers at a meeting in December.
"State governments cannot do much about the physical geography occupied by our cities, (but) they could do a great deal to improve planning processes and the provision of infrastructure," he says.
Labor frontbencher Michelle Rowland said the treasurer was "stating the bleeding obvious".
"It's been a significant issue for a very long time, which is why Labor has been soundly prosecuting the case for reform in this area, " she told Sky News.
Her Labor colleague Jenny Macklin accused the treasurer of being "asleep for the last couple of years", calling on him to adopt Labor's proposed changes to negative gearing and capital gains tax.
But Mr Morrison said Labor's plans were ill-considered and crashing the economy was not the way to make to make housing affordable.
Mr Morrison will flag more incentives for state governments to reform planning laws and release more land.
Arguing housing affordability isn't just an issue for home buyers, the treasurer will warn it's also putting more pressure on the private rental market and ultimately social housing.
The challenge of not being able to find a secure and affordable home has other flow-on effects, impacting health, education outcomes and workforce participation.