Australian housing market value hits record $8 trillion

Australian residential property is now worth more than four times the value of Australia's GDP, according to data released today.

CoreLogic announced its estimate of the total value of residential real estate in Australia has reached $8.1 trillion.

The surge in value follows recent broad-based capital gains witnessed across the country, with many markets now at their peak.

CoreLogic head of research, Eliza Owen, says "The Australian dwelling market has reached fresh record highs for the past four months, but the end of April marked the first time the total value of Australian housing broke the $8 trillion dollar mark.

"This puts Australian residential property at around four times the size of Australian GDP, and around $1 trillion more than the combined value of the ASX, superannuation and commercial real estate stock combined," says Ms Owen.

CoreLogic data shows that in the three months to April, national home values rose 6.8%, which is the highest quarterly dwelling growth rate since December 1988.

The data shows Regional Queensland dwelling values grew 6.1 per cent in the three months to April while Brisbane's rose 5.6 per cent - now at a record high. In the year to April, Regional Queensland dwelling values climbed 12.6 per cent while Brisbane's rose 8.3 per cent.

"The increase in the value of residential real estate has put Australian home owners in a strong equity position, with the RBA estimating just 1.3% of housing loans to be in a negative equity position at the start of 2021. However for many Australians looking to get a foot on the property ladder, the continued strength in the market is putting home ownership further out of reach despite record low mortgage rates. Wages growth simply isn't keeping pace," says Ms Owen.

In terms of rent values, CoreLogic found Regional Queensland's grew by 10.9 per cent over the year to April, while Brisbane's climbed by 5.4 per cent. Gross rental yields had trended lower nationally, with Regional Queensland's at 5.1 per cent and Brisbane's at 4.2 per cent - both still higher than the national averages.

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