Seasonality in Australian Residential Real Estate Prices

Abstract

Seasonality has long been documented in the context of equity market returns, but only recently has been tested for in the residential real estate market. This paper argues, in line with the previous research in this area, that no month should, on average, demonstrate superior (or inferior) returns to any other. Using parametric tests and regression analysis this hypothesis is supported for the Australian market. The reason that the belief of a 'better' selling month exists is shown to be a result of the inadequacy of primitive market return measures to account for the heterogeneity of the market.

Keywords: Real estate finance, seasonality, house price index

JEL Classification: C22, G14, R31