House prices rose at their fastest rate in more than 30 years during the pandemic despite the absence of international migrants.

Reserve Bank assistant Governor Luci Ellis says Australia’s population had been made smaller because of the drop in migration., but this did not affect the housing market.

She says that instead prices continued to rise as more Australians decided to enter the property market. Household sizes fell as people moved out of share houses or their parent’s homes.

“Some young adults moved back in with their parents at the onset of the pandemic, but that shift has since reversed,” she says.

“On the question of who you would rather be locked down with, at least some Australians have voted with their removalists’ van, by moving out of their share house and in with their partner.

“Spurred by the experience of lockdown and self-isolation, many people understandably wanted a bit more space, and perhaps a garden.”