Sydney housing prices to grow

Sydney house prices will boom due to the fastest population growth in 15 years.

According to MacroPlan Consultancy Australia managing director Brian Haratsis, rapid population growth in Sydney will lift property prices and buoy the housing market over the next few years.

“You’re getting the same share of international migration and the same historic levels of birth rates, but you’re not getting the same levels of outward migration,” Mr Haratsis told The Australian Financial Review.

Mr Haratsis attributed the lack of outward migration to increasing house prices in south-east Queensland, making it harder for Sydneysiders to migrate interstate.

Mr Haratsis also said employment will draw buyers to Sydney from both interstate and abroad. According to Mr Haratsis, future inner-city home buyers will typically be high income earning professionals in industries such as information technology, finance and property services.

The housing price prediction comes as no surprise following the latest ABS statistics showing population growth in New South Wales up by 1.7% on last year together with a record number of births in Australia (296,600 births registered in 2008, compared to 285,200 births in 2007).