The cost of vacant land has continued to increase in capital cities over the past year providing the impetus for growth in the cost of established housing stock.

Attached is the key statistics table detailing the key vacant land statistics across each of the state capital city markets.

In Sydney, the cost of vacant land is significantly higher than in all other capital cities. It is also noticeable how strong the increases in land prices have been in Sydney and Melbourne over the past year, with rises in excess of the rise in home values.

Over the past year the cost of housing in the combined capital cities has increased and this data shows that a significant driver of the increase has been the cost to purchase land. It is no wonder median house prices in Sydney are hovering around $900,000 when new vacant land (most of which is on the outskirts of the city) has a median price in excess of $422,000.

Source: CoreLogic