- CoreLogic's national Home Value Index (HVI) rose by 0.7% in March
- Slightly above 0.6%
- The growth has been mostly driven by the smaller cities as values decline in Sydney and Melbourne
Amid talks of declining property prices, CoreLogic’s national Home Value Index (HVI) increased by 0.7% in March, thinly above 0.6% in February.
The marginal increase was driven by Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth and Canberra and some regional areas. Melbourne and Sydney continued their respective declines.
During the first quarter of the year, Australian dwelling values rose by 2.4%, equating to around $17,000.
To put this in perspective, the same time last year saw growth of 5.8%.
Momentum is declining
In Sydney, growth has declined from 9.3% during the three months to May 2021, to 0.3% during the first quarter of 2022. Melbourne has declined from 5.8% in April last year to just 0.1% over the past three months.
Tim Lawless, CoreLogic’s research director, said while the rate of growth was up across most major cities and towns, there is enough evidence to suggest housing growth rates have lost momentum.
“Virtually every capital city and major rest of state region has moved through a peak in the trend rate of growth some time last year or earlier this year,” Mr Lawless said.
“The sharpest slowdown has been in Sydney, where housing prices are the most unaffordable, advertised supply is trending higher and sales activity is down over the year.”
“There are a few exceptions to the slowdown, with regional South Australia recording a new cyclical high over the March quarter and some momentum is returning to the Perth market where the rate of growth is once again trending higher since WA re opened its borders.”
Tim Lawless, CoreLogic
Index results as at 31 March 2022
The national annualised growth rate (18.2%) is below the 20% for the first time since August 2021, reaching a high of 22.4% in January 2021.
“Nationally, the volume of housing sales is coming off record highs but there is some diversity across the capital cities in these figures as well,” he added.
“Our estimate of sales activity through the March quarter is 39% lower than a year ago in Sydney and 27% lower in Melbourne, while stronger markets like Brisbane and Adelaide have recorded a rise in sales over the same period.”
“With higher inventory levels and less competition, buyers are gradually moving back into the driver’s seat. That means more time to deliberate on their purchase decisions and negotiate on price,” Mr Lawless said.
SQM Research also shows growth has slown across the capital cities in terms of weekly asking property prices – although still at $1.221 million as of May 2022.
On a national basis, asking prices for all houses continues to increase, with the median being $805,618 as of this month.
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