Housing Indicators in Australia: A consultative method

Abstract

The housing sector is a major part of the economy, and something in which everyone has a personal interest. Ensuring that the parts of the housing sector are all functioning properly is a major responsibility of governments. On the suply side, the building industry, the finance industry, and urban development and redevelopment all need to be operating adequately and in an integrated fashion. On the demand side, access to affordable and adequate housing is a major goal of governments. The collection of data relating to housing has been regarded as important by industry, government, and the community. Industry has needed housing-related data for forecasting, facility location, and investment purposes; the public has been interested in house prices and neighbourhood statistics; and government has required data for program evaluation and for the allocation of funds in an equitable and effective manner. The very high cost and relatively slow response involved in housing investment has meant that data are required prior to investment decisions so that costly mistakes can be avoided. The collection and analysis of data for policy purposes has been particularly important in allowing governments to implement desirable policies impacting on the housing sector. If there is no clear sense of what constitutes a well-functioning housing sector, how to move towards these outcomes, and how to measure whether an improvement has occurred, then costly policy failures may occur which inhibit the development of the housing sector and frustrate broader development objectives (UN/World Bank 1991). King (1992) has identified four levels of information for policy requirements, distinguishing between measures of outcomes, analytical measures, performance indicators, and administrative criteria.