- Home prices continued to grow in July, albeit at a slower pace.
- Premium suburbs led the slowing of value growth.
- Brisbane has regained last year's losses, and is now at a new peak.
Australian house prices were a mixed bag across the nation, with the latest data finding the national rise in property prices losing momentum, some cities are hitting their peak, and others saw the pace of growth accelerate.
National property prices continued to rise
Both the CoreLogic and PropTrack price indexes recorded gains across the nation. CoreLogic’s Home Value Index (HVI) found a 0.7% rise in house prices for July, while PropTrack’s Home Price Index (HPI) recorded a 0.16% rise.
According to CoreLogic, the pace of property price growth is slowing, with the latest figure a 50 basis point drop from May’s 1.2% monthly rise.
Both indexes found that prices remain below their peaks, CoreLogic noted home values, nationally, were 5.3% below the April 2022 peak; PropTrack data shows the nation is 1.44% below its peak.
The HPI also found that Australian house prices have reversed the majority of declines recorded in 2022; data shows that prices are 1.36% above July 2022.
Brisbane hits a new peak
The Queensland capital has regained all of last year’s losses, and hit a new peak, according to PropTrack. The HPI now has three capital cities and one regional area sitting at their peak, including Adelaide, Brisbane, Perth, and rest of South Australia.
Home price changes for July 2023
| Region | Monthly growth (%) – All dwellings | Annual growth (%) – All dwellings | Median value ($) – All dwellings | Change since peak (%) – All dwellings | Peak month – All dwellings |
| National | 0.16 | 1.36 | 748,000 | -1.44 | Mar 2022 |
| Capital Cities | 0.23 | 1.88 | 808,000 | -1.61 | Mar 2022 |
| Regional Areas | -0.03 | 0.08 | 616,000 | -1.48 | Apr 2022 |
| Sydney | 0.28 | 3.16 | 1,046,000 | -2.22 | Feb 2022 |
| Rest of NSW | 0.2 | -1.43 | 709,000 | -3.14 | Apr 2022 |
| Melbourne | 0.01 | -1.3 | 805,000 | -4.91 | Mar 2022 |
| Rest of Vic. | -0.38 | -2.58 | 590,000 | -4.39 | Apr 2022 |
| Brisbane | 0.37 | 1.98 | 742,000 | 0 | Jul 2023 |
| Rest of Qld | -0.1 | 3.62 | 608,000 | -0.1 | Jun 2023 |
| Adelaide | 0.62 | 5.95 | 676,000 | 0 | Jul 2023 |
| Rest of SA | 0.09 | 9.19 | 389,000 | 0 | Jul 2023 |
| Perth | 0.36 | 6.56 | 583,000 | 0 | Jul 2023 |
| Rest of WA | -0.59 | 5.24 | 467,000 | -0.92 | May 2023 |
| Hobart | 0.21 | -4.89 | 680,000 | -6.6 | Mar 2022 |
| Rest of Tas. | 0.08 | -0.45 | 503,000 | -0.58 | Jun 2022 |
| Darwin | -0.08 | -1.22 | 490,000 | -2.01 | May 2022 |
| Rest of NT | -0.08 | 2.22 | 455,000 | -0.3 | May 2023 |
| ACT | -0.02 | -2.98 | 843,000 | -5.91 | Mar 2022 |
Source: PropTrack.
Increased listing levels have taken the wind out of Sydney’s sails, according to CoreLogic’s Tim Lawless.
“After leading the upswing, the monthly pace of growth in Sydney housing values has halved from a recent high of 1.8% in May to 0.9% in July,” said Lawless.
“Sydney has also seen a significant rise in the number of fresh listings added to the market, 9.9% higher than the same time last year and 18.0% above the previous five-year average.
An increased flow of new listings provides more choice and may be working to reduce some of the urgency felt among prospective buyers,” he said.
High-end suburbs lead the slowdown
Homes in the upper quartile across the capitals more than halved the pace of growth, according to CoreLogic going from a 1.8% price growth in May to 0.7% price growth in July; the remaining segments of the market were more resilient, with the HVI noting the broad middle of the market and lower quartile had a smaller, but more consistent rate of growth over the past few months.
“Some resilience in growth across the middle and more affordable end of the market aligns with housing finance data which has shown a stronger bounce back in the value of lending to first home buyers and investors over recent months,” said Lawless.
“These segments tend to be more active across the middle to lower end of the pricing range where competition to purchase a home may be more intense.
“Premium housing markets tend to lead the cycles, so the slowdown in the pace of growth could be a sign of a broader easing in the pace of growth over the coming months.”
