Contrary to the old myth that property prices double every 10 years, it has taken Australian houses 15.4 years (185 months) for their median price to double, and units 17.8 months (213 months), despite very strong price gains nationally throughout the pandemic, new PropTrack data showed.
“While property prices have risen significantly since the beginning of the pandemic, it has taken many years for median prices to double to their current values across most parts of the country,” said Cameron Kusher (pictured above), PropTrack director economic research. “This highlights that as the cost of housing has increased, the percentage gains in prices have reduced.”
“Median price increases for houses are typically stronger than units, particularly in capital cities. In fact, house prices have doubled sooner than unit prices across all capital cities and regional markets.”
For houses, their median price doubled quicker in capital cities at 14.3 years than in regional areas, 16 years. Unit median prices, too, doubled faster in capital cities at 18.1 years than in regional areas, at 17.5 years.
“Prices in Tasmania have previously been the cheapest in the country,” Kusher said. “With the rapid increases in prices over recent years, Hobart is now the fifth most expensive capital city for houses and the fourth most expensive for units. Tasmania is also the fastest state to see prices double.”
Houses in Hobart doubled in price in just 6.8 years – quicker than in any other region. Houses in Perth and regional Queensland, meanwhile, both took the longest to double in price, at 17.8 years.
Hobart units, too, have doubled in price quickest at just 7.8 years, while units in Perth have taken the longest at 19.2 years.
The PropTrack data also showed that prices have doubled faster in Sydney, Melbourne, and Canberra, where housing is most expensive, than in many other cities and regional areas.
“Rising interest rates and much higher prices, along with other economic and demographic factors, will weigh on the prospects of prices doubling in the future,” Kusher said.
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