Did Speculation in Land Pay Off for British Investors? Buying and Selecting Land in South Australia, 1835-1850

Edwyna Harris and Sumner La Croix

No 9, CEH Discussion Papers from Centre for Economic History, Research School of Economics, Australian National University

Abstract: In 1834, Britain�s Parliament passed the South Australia Act establishing South Australia as a colony. By December 1835, 130 British investors had purchased 437 priority land orders (PLO) at �81 per order, allowing selection of a surveyed one-acre lot in the capital city of Adelaide and 80 surveyed country acres. In March 1837, PLO investors selected 437 lots from 1,000 surveyed Adelaide lots, with remaining lots sold one week later at auction. Investors who sold city lots in 1838/1839 earned on average 59 times initial investment, while investors who held until 1850/1852 saw the average assessed value of Adelaide lots and buildings increase by 16 times the initial investment in the lot. Initial Investors were able to identify higher-value lots, as higher prices paid for lots in 1837 predict higher sales prices in 1838/1839 and early selection of lots and higher prices paid for lots in 1837 predict higher assessed property values in 1850.

Keywords: Adelaide; colonization; priority land order; South Australia; auction; Wakefield; Hindmarsh (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D44 N47 N57 N97 R30 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018-08
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-his
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Related works:
Working Paper: Did Speculation in Land Pay Off for British Investors? Buying and Selecting Land in South Australia, 1835-1850 (2020)
Working Paper: Did Speculation in Land Pay Off for British Investors? Buying and Selecting Land in South Australia, 1835-1850 (2018)
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