Residential land prices climb to ‘all-time high’

The latest HIA-CoreLogic Residential Land Report  revealed that the median residential land price rose by 2.6 per cent in the June 2016 quarter to a “new all-time high” of $237,535.

The report estimated that a total of 18,395 residential lots were transacted over the period.

“Residential land prices in Australia climbed to yet another all-time high during the June 2016 quarter on the back of strong demand and lower interest rates,” HIA senior economist Shane Garrett said.

Mr Garrett said housing affordability deteriorated in several key markets and the ongoing rise in land prices was proving “very challenging”.

“With market supply having fallen further over the past year, policymakers need to look very carefully at ways of bringing about more sustainable outcomes in residential land supply.

“This will inevitably involve tackling issues around the pace of land release, the bottlenecks in the planning process and the excessive burden of taxation.”

During the quarter, land transactions experienced the largest increase in Hobart (+26.9 per cent) compared to the prior corresponding period. Land turnover remained unchanged in Adelaide (+0.2 per cent).

Land sales recorded the largest drop in Sydney (-38.3 per cent), followed by Melbourne (-14.3 per cent) and Brisbane (-3.9 per cent).

Land sales also dipped in Perth by 3.5 per cent.

[Related: Land price growth falls in early 2016]