House prices are still effectively doubling every decade in Australia’s major centres for owners prepared to hold for the long term.

A News Corp Australia analysis of price data going back 36 years shows that the major centres have shown strong and all have increased at least 1100 per cent since 1980.

The REI figures show that anybody who bought and held 20 years ago has doubled their money several times over.

Sydney and Melbourne, now enjoying the latest price booms, are the biggest price long term improvers, up more than 1400 and 1600 percent respectively.

Other capitals haven’t quite doubled in the last 10 years though have trebled in the last 20 years.

I have closely watched many cycles over the last few decades and every city goes through their growth cycle at different times.

That’s why it is rarely a bad time to buy property  for long term if you research and understand the cycles and choose the right location.