Housing Affordability – Land supply and new housing in WA

Centre PersonnelKenneth Leong
External PersonnelGreg Costello
Project StatusComplete

Project Summary

This project examines housing market structure and affordability in WA at high levels of disaggregation through use of individual property transaction records (micro data). Methodology focuses upon allocation efficiency of affordable housing options across income and spatial classifications, through analysis of specific market segments associated with affordable housing. This project will focus upon new-build housing components through specific identification and analysis of vacant land and construction activity. Micro-data used is the Landgate (WA) property database, containing detail of both prices and characteristics of property sold. The database is linked with the State’s geographic information system (GIS), enabling detailed spatial analysis.

The general outcomes of the project involve summary and analysis of relevant transactions in WA for the period 2009-14 together with discussion of the historical impact of various First Home Owner Grant (FHOG) schemes administered at both state and federal government level. This includes discussion of current Western Australian housing policy and implications of findings from this study for development of effective future policy.