Sans Souci NSW 2019
December 2021 Market Update
Michael Kalinovski

The extraordinary momentum carried over from 2020, coupled with monetary and fiscal stimulus measures has contributed to an unprecedented year of growth and litany of outstanding results for the Australian residential housing market.

The estimated value of Australia’s residential real estate had gone from $7.2 trillion at the end of November 2020, to reach a record high of $9.4 trillion in just 12 months.

In addition, sales volumes climbed to an estimated 614,635 in the past 12 months, the highest level in almost 18 years, as dwelling values nationally increased 22.2% in the 12 months to November, the highest increase since 1989.

Strong housing market performance over the year was driven by multiple factors, including low-interest rates, fiscal and institutional support for households, high household savings, and relatively low levels of advertised stock.

Rates of housing turnover had also been relatively low for some years before these factors boosted housing demand, which may also explain the elevated volume of sales in the past 12 months, which at November was 32.6% above the decade annual average.

Detached house values increased 24.6% in the past year, outperforming the 14.2% uplift in national unit values.

Similarly, the 25.2% increase in regional dwelling values surpassed the performance of the combined capital cities (21.3%), which was due to a variety of factors including extended lockdowns through 2021 and remote work trends.