Calmer waters
Melbourne house prices finished the month of December a little lower for the first time in 14 months, down by 0.3 per cent.
Sydney prices also only increased modestly, to be up by 0.3 per cent.
Brisbane led the way with a significant 2.9 per cent increase in the month of December, for a thumping 8½ per cent quarterly rise.
Adelaide also recorded a strong monthly gain of 2.6 per cent, and house prices up by more than 7 per cent for the quarter.
Perth recorded a 0.4 per cent monthly increase in prices.
In the world of equities, Aussie stocks finished the year with an impressive 13 per cent gain, leaving the ASX 200 index higher than its pre-pandemic levels (and now about 12 per cent higher than the 2007 peak).
Overall, then, household wealth has increased strongly in 2021.
The capital city house price index increased by around 21 per cent, substantially accounted for by Brisbane (28.4 per cent) and Sydney (25.3 per cent), as well as strong gains elsewhere.
Superannuation funds have likely returned about 11-12 per cent for the calendar year, and stocks are clearly now well up from their 2020 lows.
Household wealth in Australia thus powered into the end of the year, probably exceeding $15 trillion, pushing the average net worth per capita up to a record high of around $575,000 (comfortably more than doubling over the past decade).
