Housing Data for Australia

Last year we secured access to Australian Property Monitors (APM) point level data on individual sale and rent records for New South Wales and Victoria for academic researchers.

In response to demand we worked with APM to unlock data for the rest of Australia and are pleased to announce that researchers can now apply for access to point level housing data for the state or territory of their choice!

Researchers across the country are already using APM data to address important national challenges such as the effect of immigration policies on the residential property market, reporting on low-income housing affordability and the impact of proximity to services on housing prices.

Attributes of this data include sale price, advertised price, rental information, number of bedrooms, point location (anonymity is protected) and number of a features such as rumpus rooms, polished timber floors, internal laundry, type of view, and many more!

To explore these attributes in more detail we have provided a sample dataset on the AURIN Portal using the inner west Melbourne suburb of Footscray as a study area with over 1100 datapoints on Footscray properties for sale during 2018. This is to let researchers explore the potential uses of the data before applying for their preferred state or territory.

For example in the map shown above we have used the APM Sample Point Level Property Data dataset to examine price changes for properties that were listed for sale.

Using the AURIN Portal to access and analyse the data, we first established the price difference between the first and last sale event (calculated using our generate tool). Next we visualised the outputs on a point choropleth map to show areas where the sale’s price increased, decreased or remained the same between the first and last time it was advertised. Negative price difference is represented through red dots and indicates properties where the price has decreased. Yellow dots represent properties where the price remained the same between the first and the last event. Blue dots represent properties where the price of the property on the market has increased during 2018.

We then overlaid this map with Building Footprint data, provided by Melbourne Water, Greenspace data provided by PSMA and Street Lines provided by OSM through the AURIN Portal. Additionally, ABS Monthly Mortgage Repayment data from the 2016 Census was used, to create a choropleth to highlight SA1 areas with the highest and lowest mortgage rates. This allows researchers to explore relationships such as a connection between mortgage repayment rates and the changing property prices.

Researchers can access cleaned and harmonised housing data that works seamlessly alongside the 5000+ other datasets available through the AURIN Workbench.

WHO ARE APM?

As one of Australia’s leading property intelligence platforms, APM deliver data to banking, insurance, media, real estate and government industries; making it easier to navigate data for better insights and growth.

Previously this kind of access enabled complex housing market research at a micro-scale, such as the research carried out by Ellen Sim, a master’s student at University of Melbourne. Ellen used point level data from APM to investigate the extent to which the prices of residential property prices are affected by proximity to transit-oriented development around the Box Hill Train Station in Melbourne’s inner east.  At the municipality scale researchers from the City Futures Research Centre (CFRC) were able to undertake comprehensive analysis of housing affordability at both the spatial and temporal variations, for both the rental and ownership housing tenure types.  The group found that housing affordability is complex and multi-faceted, especially when considering how it may vary across a city, over time, and across different housing markets.

The national challenge of housing access and affordability is of critical concern for Australia’s citizens and policy makers, access of this scale and detail to such high value data is proving vital for creating insightful research outcomes that can form the evidence base for Australia’s economic and planning decision making.  We look forward to future research outcomes from Australian housing research that can have real impact for our towns, cities and communities.

Apply for point level data for your area of study

Applying for access is easy. The data is delivered through the AURIN Portal so if you are an existing Portal user simply fill out the application and choose your area of study.  Applications will be reviewed, and successful applicants will then have the data provided to them via the AURIN Portal. If you are yet to access the Portal, before applying click here and log in with your usual organisations credentials.

Dive right in with aggregated Time Series Data

From this data secured through APM we have also created a range of aggregated datasets that allow researchers to immediately access housing data at a broader national scale through the AURIN Portal. For sale, for rent listings and sold property datasets for all of Australia for a range of periods between 1986 and 2019 are available via the AURIN Portal. It has been aggregated in monthly intervals following the Australia Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS) 2011 and 2016 Statistical Area Level 2, 3 and 4 (SA2, SA3, SA4) boundaries.

You can search these datasets and view additional attributes on our Data Discovery and access through the AURIN Portal (no application required).