House and land prices in Australia with special reference to Sydney

• Main Author: Abelson, Peter
• Published: London School of Economics and Political Science (University of London) 1992
• Subjects: 333.33
• Online Access: http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.645358

The thesis describes and explains average house prices and the distribution of house prices in Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide in the 1970s and 1980s, and average house and land prices and their distribution in Sydney from 1925 to 1970. Part I starts with a brief discussion of the special nature of housing. The rest of Part I describes the house and land prices that the study aims to explain. The Sydney data are described at greater length because these were developed mainly by the writer. Part II reviews economic theories of the price of housing services in the long and short run, the distribution of house prices, and the relationship between house and land prices. The models of average house prices allow, inter alia, for the dual role of housing as a consumption good and asset, the interaction between the demand for and supply of housing, and the disequilibrium nature of the housing market. The models of the distribution of house prices draw on economic theories of urban structure and hedonic house prices. Part III applies these models to explain short and long-run changes in house prices in Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide since about 1970; the distribution of house prices within each city; and intercity differences in house prices. Part IV models average house and land prices, and explains their spatial distribution, in Sydney from 1925 to 1970. Part V summarises the main results of the research. The thesis provides plausible explanations for most of the observed major house price phenomena. The Appendices contain a note on the requirements for a Ph.D., a review of relevant literature by other writers, and a summary of related work on property prices by the author.