A one-two punch for fans of expensive Aussie housing today – the latest data out of PropTrack and CoreLogic show the national housing market is waning like George Foreman in the final rounds of the Rumble in the Jungle.
It might not be rope-a-dope out there, but some of these falls suggest at least some key markets are being staggered. Sydney looks downright punch drunk.
According to CoreLogic national home prices have crashed with a little more oomph than they have in nigh on 50 years, down 1.6% in August, the sharpest national monthly decline since Australia won the America’s Cup.
Over at PropTrack national prices fell in August by a trim 0.4%, but both measurements agree that the whole bloody house of cards is wobbling with an exciting fragility as nearly all major cities and regional areas have thrown up their hands and joined the property downturn.
CoreLogic’s home value index suggests all the capital cities have seen price falls – that is, sans Darwin – which enjoyed a 0.9% rise in August.
Naturally, the biggest falls hit Sydney, where prices dropped 2.3% in August. Eliza Owen at CoreLogic told Stockhead Sydney has been at the sharp end of both sides of the property knife – recording the record rises and now seeing the biggest falls.
“Sydney’s now copped a decline from its COVID peak of 7.4% since January 2022, with Melbourne the next hardest hit, down 4.6%.”
After that the most extreme falls for capital cities go thusly:
- Nadine up in Bris Vegas copped a 1.8% fall
- Peter’s people near Hobart (-1.7%) (Ed: Don’t know them, their beer is terrible)
- No-one we worry about in Canberra saw -1.7%
- The west coast team saw prices in Perth do nada, really (-0.2%)
- Former Deputy Editor Sam Jacobs, before he was so ably replaced by me, saw his precious Adelaide (-0.1%) pretty much tread water.
- While wet, soggy and slightly depressing Melbourne recorded a further 1.2% dip.
“It’s just a sign of how extraordinary the increases in interest rates have been, the hit of the higher cost of living and lower consumer sentiment,” Eliza said.
“Property values around the country also went up by about 28% over the previous two years, so let’s not call the property cops just yet.”
Stockhead promises to look into these ‘property cops’ and get back ASAP.
Top of the props:
CoreLogic and PropTrack both agree that regional South Australia is at a peak price, with Adelaide only just off, while regional Tasmania is also considered at a record high by the latter data provider but not the former.
Regional markets are reversing
According to the PropTrack index, regional markets fell at their fastest pace since 2011, with CoreLogic also seeing fast falls, recording a combined 1.5% fall outside the big capitals.
That means there’s more choice for buyers in the city and country.
Here’s PropTrack in point form.
• Australian home prices fell in August, down 0.39%, and are now 2.7% below their peak.
• Regional South Australia is the only market continuing to see significant growth, hitting a new price peak. Adelaide, which was the last capital city to record a price fall this year, is now the strongest performing capital over the last year.
• Combined regional areas fell 0.34% in August and have now fallen 1.2% over the past three months – the greatest quarterly fall since 2011.
• Prices continued to decline in Sydney (-0.49%) and Melbourne (-0.47%). All capital city markets are now below their price peaks
• Sydney prices down 0.87% compared to August 2021, making it the only capital city to see a decline over the year.