Australia’s land value has gone through the roof. Where does that leave young people who want to buy a home? |
Land, it is fair to say, is important.
In Australia this is very much the case – and even more so in the past 25 years.
Last week the Bureau of Statistics released the December 2025 national accounts figures for finance and wealth. These get less attention than the other national accounts, which have the GDP figures, but given they contain the breakdown of household wealth, they are vital to understanding why younger Australians especially feel the economy is not working for them.
In 2025, total Australian household wealth increased by $1,751bn – 49% of that, or $859.8bn, came from land.
The crucial thing to remember is that we are talking land, not houses.
The great Australian dream might be to own a home, but really it is the land on which your home is built that is of real value.
This was not always the case.
Back in the 1980s, the value of land held by households was about 1.3 times that of the value of the dwellings; now it is three times that value:
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If you look at the past 25 years, land value has increased well beyond other assets. Even superannuation, which is much bigger now than it was in 2000, has not grown by as much:
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Even percentages can hide just how huge this difference is. Land assets that........