The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has released a new report which shows that global forces have been a major driver of growth in house prices in Australia and abroad over recent decades.
The report notes that house price growth has become increasingly synchronised at both city and country level, particularly since the global financial crisis. The IMF concludes that although local factors continue to be the key influence on house prices, policymakers should be mindful that a domestic property market can be affected by house price shocks in other countries. It also finds that policy measures aimed at cooling housing markets – such as macroprudential controls and stamp duties on foreign buyers – remain effective tools to tame the housing cycle and reduce price synchronicity.
