Powell said this year’s growth cycle was in defiance of the 13 rate hikes enacted over 2022-2023 that brought the official cash rate to 4.35% by year’s end.

“What afterward unraveled over this past year was a reverse of expectations that defied logic—as a shortfall of housing supply collided with rapid population growth, a strained construction sector and the tightest rental market on record—and Australian property prices rose.”

She expects continued growth in house and unit prices into 2024 of between 5% to 7%, but warns of “an intricate dance of economic forces influencing the property price in Australia”. Upward