The ABS has today released its property price index – incorporating both detached houses and units – which registered a 1.8% rise in values nationally over the June quarter and a 10.1% gain over the year, down from the 10.9% annual growth recorded in the year to March 2014.
As expected, the growth in property values was once again driven by Sydney – investor central – where prices rose by 3.1% over the quarter and by 15.6% over the year. Solid gains were also posted in Melbourne (+9.3% YoY), Brisbane (+6.8% YoY), Adelaide (+5.6% YoY), Hobart (+4.3% YoY), Perth (+3.6% YoY), and Darwin (+3.4% YoY), whereas below-inflation growth was recorded in Canberra, with prices up only 2.2%% over the year.
The ABS has also updated its estimated total value of residential properties in Australia, which hit $5.2 trillion in the June quarter, up from $5.1 trillion in the March quarter and $5.0 trillion in the December quarter of 2013. The average price of Australia’s 9.37 million residential properties is also $554,800, up 8.8% from $509,800 in the June quarter of 2013 (see below table).
This suggests that Australian housing is currently around 3.3 times the size of the economy, as measured by GDP, and roughly $221,000 per man, women and child. No wonder we are one of the “wealthiest” nations on earth!
