Following my post on Friday revealing RP Data’s dwelling price results at the 5-city level, RP Data has today released its full February results, covering all eight capital city markets (see next table).
As you can see, home values at the 8-city level were flat in February, with values falling in five capital cities and rising in three.
The flat February result follows eight consecutive monthly increases whereby values rose by 10% at the 8-city levels.
According to RP Data’s Tim Lawless:
”The February market results are in stark contrast to earlier readings where capital city dwelling values moved 2.6 per cent higher over the past three months. “The likelihood is that the weak reading for February is an adjustment from the strong readings in December and January rather than the beginning of a flat to negative growth phase across the macro level housing market”…
Additional metrics tracked by RP Data show that buyer demand remained very strong in February with RP Data’s valuation platforms recording a record month for average daily levels of mortgage-related activity. Additionally, auction clearance rates remained strong and with little slippage in vendor discounting levels or average selling times. Mr Lawless said we will need to see further months of flat to negative movements before we can confidently say the housing market is slowing.
“Our view is that housing market conditions will start to wind down later this year as affordability constraints and low rental yields dampen market conditions…
The below tables show the 12-month price movements, as well as the gains from the prior peaks and troughs:
Tomorrow, we will release a Member’s Report providing a detailed examination of the Australian housing market and the outlook for the future.
