Home prices fell in four capital cities during Sept quarter
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The news: Home values fell in Melbourne, Canberra, Hobart and Darwin over the September quarter, new CoreLogic data shows, amid a broad-based slowdown across the country's housing markets.
The numbers: Dwelling values increased 0.4% in the month of September, following two consecutive months of 0.3% growth, marking an ongoing slowdown in prices. Over the quarter, capital city prices were up 1.1% on a national basis and 1% in regional areas.
In Melbourne, prices slipped 1.1% over the quarter, with Canberra down 0.9%, Hobart 0.8% and Darwin 0.7%. Sydney prices were up 0.5% over the quarter, Perth prices increased 4.7%, Adelaide 4% and Brisbane 2.7% in a sign of a slowdown for the Queensland capital.
Prices are still outpacing rental growth, despite the slowdown in both, pushing yields down to 3.68% — the lowest since December.
The context: Housing affordability is centre stage again with the government receiving advice from Treasury about negative gearing and the opposition also contemplating its own policies to assist first-home buyers to purchase and balance investor demand.
What they said: “The rise in real estate inventory is a seasonal trend, with spring and early summer one of the busiest periods of the year for selling,” CoreLogic research director Tim Lawless said.
“However, the flow of freshly advertised housing stock hasn’t been this high at this time of the year since 2021.
“Our affordability metrics indicated that the median income household would require around a third of their income to service the median rent value across Australia in June.
"It wouldn’t be surprising if the average household size has continued to increase as group households and multi-generational households become more common in the face of high rental costs,” he said.
The source: CoreLogic Home Value Index September 2024
