A History of Housing Prices in Australia 1880-2010

Abstract:     
This paper introduces series of house and land prices for Australia’s major capital cities for the period 1880-1970 which, spliced to modern data, give series spanning 1880-2010. The broad trends in prices for houses, land and rents highlight no significant movement in real prices for the first seventy years followed by a persistent and significant trend rise in prices. Cycles in house prices and housing activity played a major part in each of the seven major economic cycles in this period, the first associated with the 1880s boom/1890s depression and finishing with a major cycle which commenced in the mid-1990s.

Number of Pages in PDF File: 29

Keywords: Australia, House Prices, Land Prices, Gross Dwelling Rents, Price and Rent Controls, Housing Cycles, Economic Cycles

JEL Classification: G12, N97, R21, R31, R38

Accepted Paper Series