- House prices have risen 7% over the past 3 months, and rose again in May
- 97% of the country is experiencing property price rises
- The fundamentals all point to a continued rise in property values
Another month over, another month of the housing boom across the land. CoreLogic‘s national Home Value Index has ticked up another 2.2% – in one month – having risen 1.8% in April, and 2.8% in March.
For those keeping count, that’s a 7% rise over just one quarter, nationwide.
The growth in property market values shows no signs of abating, as prices are rising in almost every market and every category.
“Values were up by more than 1% across every capital city over the month, with both house and unit values lifting across the board. Of the 334 SA3 sub-regions analysed by CoreLogic, 97% have recorded a lift in housing values over the past three months.
Such a synchronised upswing is an absolute rarity across Australia’s diverse array of housing markets.”
Tim Lawless, CoreLogic
Capital city prices (+2.3%) outpaced regional areas (+2.0%) during May, for the second month running.
Perth experienced the lowest rise (+1.1%) while Hobart was running hottest (+3.2%). WA also had the weakest regional market, with prices actually falling slightly (-0.1%) while regional NSW was the fastest-rising area outside capital cities with +2.5% gain in May.
‘They’ used to say “sell in May and go away” – which is a northern hemisphere term for liquidating assets before the long summer break – but that term certainly does not apply here, with CoreLogic expecting prices to continue their upward trajectory.
“The combination of improving economic conditions and low interest rates is continuing to support consumer confidence which, in turn has created persistently strong demand for housing.”
“At the same time, advertised supply remains well below average. This imbalance between demand and supply is continuing to create urgency amongst buyers, contributing to the upwards pressure on housing prices,” Mr Lawless said.
The underlying trends have shifted somewhat over the past year, according to the CoreLogic data.
“The most expensive end of the market is now driving the highest rate of price appreciation across most of the capital cities, whereas early in the growth cycle it was the most affordable end of the market that was the strongest.”
“From a geographic perspective, it was the smaller capital cities that led the housing market out of the COVID slump, but now Sydney has risen through the ranks to record the largest capital gain over the past three months with values up 9.3%,” he said.
Capital cities are showing strong price trends, with Darwin already up 20.3% over the past year – the strongest annual gain on record. The weakest annual growths have been seen in regional WA, which has flatlined (+0.0%), and among capital cities, Melbourne, which has risen ‘only’ 5%.
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