Australian Property

Rising land costs cripple housing affordability

Leith van Onselen
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The 2024-25 annual national accounts from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) revealed that the total value of residential land increased by 7.0% over the financial year to a record $8.3 trillion.

Australian land values

Total residential land values in Australia have risen from 1.1 times GDP in 1989 to 3.0 times GDP in 2024–25.

Autralian land values index
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Land now accounts for 75% of Australia’s housing stock, up from 54% in 1990-91.

Residential land share

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About the author
Leith van Onselen is Chief Economist at the MB Fund and MB Super. He is also a co-founder of MacroBusiness. Leith has previously worked at the Australian Treasury, Victorian Treasury and Goldman Sachs.