Australia’s Housing Market Faces Its Biggest Test in 30 Years

  • Property prices expected to fall, building slow on rate rises
  • Declining home values a challenge for winner of May 21 ballot
Newly built houses in the Denham Court suburb of Sydney.Photographer: Brendon Thorne/Bloomberg
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One of the world’s most expensive property markets faces its biggest test in more than 30 years.

Australia’s A$10 trillion ($7 trillion) residential real estate sector will this year have to absorb the sharpest interest-rate increases since 1989, if bond markets are right. The Reserve Bank last week began its first tightening cycle in 11-1/2 years, shaking the confidence of consumers with some of the world’s highest debt loads.