 Land prices fall
Land prices feel slightly in the three months to December in a further sign that there is still ongoing uncertainty about economic conditions and availability of finance.
The Housing Industry Association has released a report that shows vacant land prices dropped a small percentage, by 1.5 per cent in capital cities, to nearly $183,000 dollars.
Harley Dale, HIA's chief economist said this was probably the bottom of the value falls.
"We do have at the same time very strong population growth in Australia, and we do have a very acute shortage of new home stock, and so we're certainly not going to see a large drop in land prices by any stretch, but we will see a stable to perhaps slightly greater decline over the course of the current year," he told ABC News.
Mr Dale also said housing affordability would be better and first homebuyers could be encouraged into the market. The combination of lower land prices, low interest rates and a boost the first home owners grant combine to make housing more affordable for many Australians.
Sydney is still the most expensive city with a median price of $250,000 and Hobart is the most affordable at $135,000.
Tim Lawless from RP Data co-authored the report and said in a statement that land prices may have held up but the number of sales fell and this could indicate a problem with buyers and developers gaining approvals.
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