Login
ISCOVER
Australian house prices have posted the strongest annual growth rates in seven years – bad news for first home buyers
The twin issues of affordability and supply continue to dog the residential property market amid concerns Australia is facing a housing price bubble.
To continue reading the rest of this article, please log in.
Looking for more benefits? Become a Premium Member.
Create free account to get unlimited news articles and more!
Looking for more benefits? Become a Premium Member.
Residex’s chief John Edwards said Sydney’s median house price will top $1 million before the decard is out.
And while Edwards’ forecast may seem a little extreme, there’s plenty of data to back it up.
Australian Property Monitors’ latest statistics revealed a 12.1 per cent rise in median house prices across Australia’s capital cities in the 12 months to December 2009 – a growth rate not seen since 2003.
And according to RP Data-Rismark, Sydney posted an impressive 10.08 per cent annual growth to December 2009 with the median house price now sitting at $614,242.
Darwin and Melbourne also posted strong annual growth, with median house prices in these cities rising 12.6 per cent and 13.9 per cent respectively, to sit at $530,394 and $510,632.
Despite rapid price growth, the average loan for a first home buyer as at December 2009 was only $304,260, according to Loan Market Group.
And it is limited supply that is fuelling fears of a housing bubble.
Despite the NSW government injecting $179 million into local infrastructure development, the rate of new home construction has halved over the last five years according to the NSW Urban Taskforce.
NSW Urban Taskforce chief executive Aaron Gadiel says housing demand will continue to be an issue until local and state authorities take action to boost private housing construction and development to improve supply.
Until this happens, he says, house prices will continue to climb in line with demand.
