CoreLogic’s dwelling value results for December showed that monthly and quarterly home prices had fallen across every market in Australia, with the exception of Western Australia and regional South Australia:
Broad-based house price falls.
This broad decline in home values is similarly reflected in CoreLogic’s interactive Mapping the Market tool, which revealed that dwelling values fell across 80.7% of Australia’s 4,661 house and unit sub-markets in the December quarter, up from 76.9% of markets over the September quarter.
Commenting on the results, CoreLogic Economist Kaytlin Ezzy noted that the nation’s housing market has turned from boom to bust following the Reserve Bank of Australia’s (RBA) ultra-aggressive monetary tightening.
“The market downswing doesn’t discriminate, with only a small proportion of suburban areas riding a wave of positive growth among the sea of declining values”, Ezzy said.
However, Ezzy noted that the fall in prices hasn’t necessarily made homes more affordable, since mortgage repayments have also risen sharply.
“The downswing has meant buyers who were previously priced out of some markets might start to see opportunities appearing, particularly in cities where larger downturns have been recorded such
as Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Hobart and Canberra”, Ezzy said.
“However, it’s likely much of the benefits of falling values have been offset, with rising interest rates pushing serviceability buffers and mortgage repayments higher”.
With the RBA expected to hike interest rates again in a fortnight, Australian house prices should continue to fall for the foreseeable future.
I am tipping the beginning of a rebound late this year once the RBA begins cutting interest rates to ward off recession.
