Australian homes worth double their purchase price

Almost half of Australian properties are worth at least double their original purchase price, according to RP Data.

National research director Tim Lawless says 45 per cent of Australian homes are now worth twice what the homeowner paid.

Capital city home values have also increased by around 30 per cent over the past five years to June 2011 and provided a significant wealth boost to most homeowners during this period.

However, Lawless says the highest proportion of homes which have doubled in value are actually located in regional markets, where values have moved from a low base.

“Strong value growth in property over recent years has been the catalyst for most regions enjoying quite strong levels of equity,” he says.

“The Melbourne market is the exception; it’s the only capital city to fall within the top 10 list of regions enjoying the largest proportion of homes with more than 100 per cent equity accumulation.”

Australia’s residential housing market is now worth an estimated $4.56 trillion, which is almost four times the value of the Australian equities market ($1.3 trillion).

Only 3.7 per cent of homes are currently valued at a lower amount than the price they were purchased for. RP Data says properties in far north Queensland and southeastern Western Australia currently hold the largest proportion of negative equity at 13.5 per cent and 11.2 per cent of all dwellings respectively.

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