- Sydney house prices are 2.6% higher than July 2017 peak
- Melbourne's dwelling values are just 0.7% above the March 2020 high
- Brisbane's values are 6.5% above the previous peak - but units in particular are below 2010 peak
It is no surprise that factors such as low mortgage rates, a better-than-expected economic recovery and low listings have swelled housing prices to national highs.
The CoreLogic home value index saw a 2.8% increase in March which has placed values 5.6% above the previous peak in October 2017.
However, when reviewing previous peaks, not all cities are at record high prices, according to CoreLogic data.
Perth and Darwin, for example, currently have values below their record highs in 2014. This is in contrast to the Australian Capital Territory where dwelling values over the past 19 months have hit a record high every single month.
By comparison, Sydney took 44 months to reach a record high value. Though values have risen 8.1% since the pandemic-induced decline, the current dwelling market is only 2.6% higher than the July 2017 peak.
Melbourne’s values peaked in March 2020 after recovering from an 11.1% fall between late 2017 and mid-2019. However, Melbourne’s housing market suffered the most disruption due to extended restrictions and multiple lockdowns. Since October 2020, when prices bottomed out, Melbourne’s dwelling values have now climbed to a level that is 0.7% above the March 2020 high.
Notably, houses in the Victorian capital remain 1.8% below the previous March 2017 peak.
Dwelling values in Brisbane are 6.5% above the previous peak in April 2020. The peak-to-trough decline was 0.9% although this only lasted for just four months; October 2020 saw a new record high. Though houses are 7.6% higher than the previous peak, units remain 9.4% below the record high value which was recorded back in March 2010.
Unit prices have been influenced by high levels of supply, especially in the late 2010s. However, strong internal migration to south-east Queensland – which has been especially prevalent along the Gold Coast – has seen five consecutive months of growth in Brisbane units.
