CoreLogic’s weekly Australian house price index, which tracks value changes across the five major capital cities, fell another 0.37% in the week ended 18 August – the 15th consecutive weekly decline:
15th consecutive weekly decline in dwelling values.
The decline in values was driven by the three largest capital cities, namely Sydney (-0.5%), Melbourne (-0.34%) and Brisbane (-0.39%):
Big weekly falls across Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane.
So far in August, dwelling values have fallen by 0.82% at the 5-city aggregate level, driven by heavy falls across Sydney (-1.24%), Melbourne (-0.65%) and Brisbane (-0.74%):
Prices fall heavily across Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane.
As shown below, quarterly dwelling value growth turned sharply negative following the Reserve Bank of Australia’s (RBA) initial interest rate hike at the start of May, driven by these three markets:
Quarterly dwelling values falling sharply.
In fact, dwelling values have now fallen by 3.6% across the five major capitals, driven by heavy falls across Sydney (-6.5%) and Melbourne (-4.1%), with Brisbane (-1.9%) joining the rout in mid-June:
House prices have fallen sharply since the RBA’s first rate hike.
How far prices fall will obviously depend on how aggressively the RBA lifts interest rates.
If it follows the hawkish forecasts of ANZ, Westpac and the futures market, and lifts the official cash rate above 3% by the end of this year (implying a variable mortgage rate above 6%), then Australian house prices are looking at their biggest peak-to-trough price fall in living memory.
