A Survey of Housing Equity Withdrawal and Injection in Australia

In Australia, for much of the period since the early 2000s housing-secured debt increased by more than household spending on new housing, renovations and housing transfer costs. The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) commissioned a survey to better understand how households were withdrawing and injecting housing equity, the characteristics of households engaging in these activities, and how the withdrawn funds were used. The survey covered flows over 2004 associated with housing debt, housing transactions, and renovation spending. First this chapter provides details of the survey. It then presents survey results on how equity was withdrawn and injected, the characteristics of the households that withdrew and injected, what the withdrawn funds were typically used for, and where the injected funds were sourced. The chapter considers the implications of the survey results for aggregate housing equity flows and economic activity, and conclusions are drawn. Controlled Vocabulary Terms debt; Household; Housing