Will house prices go up in 2026?

1/22/202630 min

A year ago, we were told the housing market was about to cool, but it didn’t.

What’s in store for us in the year to come?

Guests:

Amy Auster, director of Policy Institute AustraliaBen Phillips, principal Research Fellow at the ANU Centre for Social Research and Methods

Clips

First 90 seconds

Ben Phillips· Guest0:00
[upbeat music] ABC Listen: podcasts, radio, news, music, and more.
Karl Kruszelnicki0:05
[upbeat music] G'day, Dr. Karl here. Back in 1986, I could not wait to see teacher Christa McAuliffe on the Space Shuttle Challenger launch into space.
Ben Phillips· Guest0:16
... Roger, go with Challenger. [camera clicking] Obviously, a major malfunction.
Karl Kruszelnicki0:20
We could not believe what we were seeing. [upbeat music] The Challenger Legacy. To hear more, search for Science Fiction and look out for The Challenger Legacy. Find it wherever you get your podcasts or on the ABC Listen app.
Peter Martin· Host0:37
A year ago, some of our greatest economic minds forecast a recession in the US, with reverberations spreading to China and much of the rest of the world, and in Australia, low and tamed inflation, with only modest house price growth. That isn't how it worked out. US economic growth accelerated, the US and other share markets soared, and in Australia, home prices took off again as a resurgence in inflation pushed real wage growth back down to zero. It's enough to make you feel uneasy, which is why we're about to tempt fate and try to work out what's in store for us in the year to come. Are we headed for good times or bad times? And does the answer depend more than at most times on who we are?