Australian Capital City Real House Prices, 1979–1993

Real house prices have increased by 35 per cent in Australian capital cities during the last 15 years, with Brisbane, Canberra, and Sydney experiencing rises of 48 to 61 per cent and Adelaide, Melbourne and Perth having increases of 20 per cent or less. This article estimates a single model for the six cities to explain the divergent real price behaviour over time and space. It is concluded that the fundamental forces driving real house prices are the growth rate in real wage income (primarily due to employment growth) and the growth in population caused by net overseas migration.