This article is from the Australian Property Journal archive
MORE than two-thirds of Australian households’ wealth is held in land and dwellings, with property assets now within touching distance of $11.0 trillion, according to official data.
Numbers released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) show household wealth lifted to more than $16.2 trillion to the end of March – 10.2%, or $1.5 trillion higher than a year earlier. Residential land and dwellings was the largest contributor growth in household wealth over the March quarter, adding 1.3 percentage points.
“Rising asset values continued to drive growth in household wealth in the first quarter of 2024, with house prices continuing to increase,” Dr Mish Tan, ABS head of finance statistics said.
Land and dwelling assets totalled $10.999 trillion.
As a proportion of net household wealth, residential property now accounts for around 67.9%, up from 61.7% at the end of 2020.
More house price growth is on the way, according to PropTrack, and while slowing it is expected to see a number of locations hit yet more record highs.
The prospect of the Reserve Bank of Australia implementing a 14th interest rate hike is well and truly back in the frame following this week’s higher-than-expected inflation numbers, but the residential market has remained resilient in the face of the run of increases since May of 2022, driven by high demand and low supply.
