Wednesday 13 January 2010

Australian Property Market (Alternate Data) – January 2009 Update

The Brisbane and Australian Eight Cities (Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth, Hobart, Darwin & Canberra) House Price Index published by the Australian Bureau of Statistics catalogue 6416.0 suits my requirement to track Australian house prices as part of my retirement investing strategy. It however seems to have two flaws. Firstly the housing data is only published quarterly and secondly this housing data is then published over a month after the quarter ends.

I’m therefore looking for something that helps me keep my finger on the pulse a little more. Certainly monthly figures are desirable. I am going to therefore use housing data published by RPData and in particular I will monitor the Brisbane and Logan City numbers.

The above chart shows the figures to November 2009. With the Reserve Bank of Australia now over their global financial crisis panic and apparently in an interest rate raising cycle plus the government removing housing stimulus by reducing first home buyers grants I ask is the Australian housing market slowing. Brisbane median prices this month have only increased by $100 ($510,000 to $510,100) which is only 0.2% annualised and Logan City median prices by $1,000 ($370,000 to $371,000) which is still 3.2% annualised.

Is the property boom running out of legs?

1 comment:

  1. Now the market is getting up slowly from the recession. I believe there may be some more raise in the home buyers grants to assist people to buy the house. Grants are frequently money that doesn't necessitate paying back, while loans may be at a flattering rate but have to be repaid at some point.

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