Given that land prices across Australia have decreased over the past year, and cost of land is one of the main components in determining the price of a new home, state governments have been called to ensure the supply of land remains adequate.
“If the Australian dream of home ownership is to remain achievable, governments must work with industry to ensure that there is an appropriate supply of land,” said HIA economist Angela Lillicrap.
“Improving the monitoring and reporting of the land supply pipeline will enable government and industry to make well informed decisions.”
The HIA-CoreLogic Residential Land Report showed that land values have slumped across the country’s most expensive markets over the past year.
The report analyses sales activity in 46 markets across Australia, including the six state capital cities.
“The rate per square metre of vacant land in Sydney was down 12.6% over the 12 months ending June 2019 and Melbourne land prices were down 7.6%,” said Tim Lawless, head of research at CoreLogic.
“Prices were also down in Adelaide (-12.0%) and Brisbane (-4.6%). Lower land prices should provide further support for housing affordability in these markets, however in Hobart and Perth land prices were higher.”
In fact, the report showed that Hobart land prices have rocketed 20.3% higher over the year ending June, reflecting tight supply against a backdrop of strong demand.
“Despite the significant rise, Hobart is still showing the lowest median land price amongst the capital cities at $180,000 and the largest median land area at 624sqm,” said Lawless.
