The Party Is Over for Australia's $5.6 Trillion Housing Frenzy

  • Value of nation’s homes equivalent to four times the economy
  • Risk that ‘a minor shock could become far more significant’
Bloomberg’s Chris Bourke explains why Australia’s housing market faces a hangover.(Source: Bloomberg)
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The party is finally winding down for Australia’s housing market. How severe the hangover is will determine the economy’s fate for years to come.

After five years of surging prices, the market value of the nation’s homes has ballooned to A$7.3 trillion ($5.6 trillion) -- or more than four times gross domestic product. Not even the U.S. and U.K. markets achieved such heights at their peaks a decade ago before prices spiraled lower and dragged their economies with them.