A Long-run Analysis of Cooperative Housing Societies and Housing Construction in Victoria, Australia

Housing construction is an important component of economic development. The use of cooperative housing societies is one means of channelling scarce financial resources to housing construction. The aim of this paper is to explore the causes of the rapid growth and subsequent decline of the cooperative housing societies as a source of housing finance in the State of Victoria in Australia during the years 1947 to 1992. Significant evidence is established of a strong relationship between the availability of funding for the societies and the growth of their assets. Mixed results are presented for the impact on the general level of housing construction.