The Housing Industry Association said today that the housing shortage in Australia will increase at a rate of more than 400% by 2020. The Housing Industry Association released its report today.

In its report, HIA said that the country needs more than 466,000 new homes to be built by 2020. Currently the housing shortage in Australia is around 109,000.

HIA said it its report that the housing shortage situation is more serious in metropolitan cities such as Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne.

"The reality in many regions and cities in Australia is that affordable, well located land is not available or abundant," said Ben Phillips, senior economist of HIA.

HIA said that there are many problems such as planning restrictions, higher taxation, and labor shortages in building a new home in metropolitan cities. HIA also said in its report that the country may face high interest rates and very expensive property crisis.

The report also showed that that the average house prices in Australia increased by at least 10% in 2009. The current average house price in the country is around $485,000. Also, market analysts are estimating the double digit growth for 2010.