Australian residential property prices have recorded their strongest annual growth in 18 years, and are now valued at more than $9 trillion, according to new data.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics has released its Residential Property Price Indexes: Eight Capital Cities report for the September quarter and it shows the total value of the nation’s 10.7 million residential dwelling jumped 487 billion to $9.259 trillion in that time period.
The mean price of residential dwellings in Australia is now $863,700.
Head of Price Statistics for the ABS, Michelle Marquardt, said it was the first time the total value of residential dwellings in Australia had passed $9 trillion.
“The value of Australia’s dwelling stock has risen by nearly $1 trillion in the past six months,” she said.
“By comparison, the previous increase of just over $1 trillion took 15 months, rising from $7.2 trillion in the December quarter 2019, to $8.4 trillion in the March quarter 2021.”
Residential property prices rose 5 per cent in the September quarter 2021, with house prices climbing 5.7 per cent and attached dwelling prices rising 3.1 per cent.
Property prices have soared 21.7 per cent in the past year, which is the strongest annual growth since the Residential Property Price Index series started in the September quarter of 2003.
Annual house price growth jumped 25.4 per cent and continued to outpace attached dwelling price growth of 12.4 per cent.
Property Council of Australia Chief Executive Officer Ken Morrison said the average price of a home rose $42,000 in the three months to September.
“While low interest rates have no doubt led to higher house prices, the combination of chronic under-supply, excessive taxes and charges, and inefficient planning systems have also unnecessarily exaggerated the cost of housing,” he said.
“Australians are rightly growing increasingly concerned about the future of home ownership in this country, and like them, the Property Council of Australia is keen to see our political leaders put meaningful plans in place to address it.”
The index shows NSW accounted for 40 per cent, or $3.7 trillion, of Australia’s total value of dwellings.
The mean price of residential dwellings in NSW rose $65,000 to $1,118,200, which was the highest in the country.
The mean price of a residential dwelling in the ACT is $949,700, in Victoria it is $920,800, in Queensland it is $681,000, in Tasmania it is $616,500, in WA it is $597,100, in SA it is $576,800 and it the NT it is $476,900.
“The September quarter results were consistent with housing market conditions,” Ms Marquardt said.
“Continued solid growth in residential property prices was supported by record low interest rates, strong demand and low levels of stock on the market.”
