Building a home is becoming more expensive, as block sizes shrink and the price per square metre increases.
A Domain report shows the average size of home sites in larger capital cities has dropped 13% in the past 10 years.
Chief of research and economics Nicola Powell says Darwin has the most affordable per square metre price ($737), while Sydney has the highest ($2,466).
Melbourne land is $1,811 per square metre, Canberra $1,517, Brisbane $1,254, Perth $1,233, Adelaide $1,194, and Hobart $1,087.
In terms of median land size, Perth has the smallest at 503m2, followed by Melbourne at 540m2, Sydney 574m2, Adelaide 600m2, Brisbane 617m2, Hobart 655m2 and Canberra 748m2.
“Policy change, land release and property tax reform are needed to see a drastic change in price per square metre affordability to improve,” Powell says.
She says as land sizes drop the gap in per-square-metre affordability widens.
The reduction in block sizes reflects the preference by many Australians to live closer to a city or the coast in search of a certain lifestyle, location, and access to key amenities and infrastructure.
“The land cost has not reduced — buyers are just purchasing less of it,” she says.
