City records astronomical price growth
Australia might have a new housing king, with values in one capital city growing by more than seven per cent during the most recent quarter.
Melbourne property values are now growing at a much faster rate than Sydney's, according to the September results of CoreLogic RP Data's Hedonic Home Value Index.
Melbourne’s median price reached $580,000 at the end of September after jumping 7.4 per cent over the quarter and 2.4 per cent over the month, according to CoreLogic RP Data.
Sydney’s median price grew 4.6 per cent over the quarter and 0.1 per cent over the month to reach $785,000.
CoreLogic RP Data head of research Tim Lawless said the Sydney slowdown comes as clearance rates have fallen and the number of advertised properties has risen.
“Vendors are still enjoying strong selling conditions, but it looks like buyers are slowly regaining some leverage in what has been a very hot market,” he said.
Looking at the rest of Australia’s capitals, Brisbane’s median price reached $460,000 after quarterly growth of 1.9 per cent and monthly growth of 1.4 per cent.
Darwin’s median is now at $543,000, with prices rising 0.4 per cent in quarterly terms but falling 0.3 per cent in monthly terms.
Canberra fell 0.4 per cent over the quarter but rose one per cent over the month to reach $551,000.
Perth also experienced mixed results, with the median sitting at $492,000 following a 0.7 per cent quarterly decrease and a 0.5 per cent monthly increase.
Adelaide’s median price fell to $405,000 – that followed a quarterly decline of 1.6 per cent and a monthly decline of 1.2 per cent.
Hobart dropped to $306,000, with prices falling two per cent over the quarter and 1.9 per cent over the month.
In annual terms, only three cities grew faster than the national inflation rate of 1.5 per cent.
Prices in Sydney increased 16.7 per cent during the year to September, while prices in Melbourne increased 14.2 per cent and Brisbane prices increased 4.6 per cent.
Canberra also recorded nominal growth of 0.6 per cent.
The other four capitals went backwards – Hobart by 0.2 per cent, Adelaide by 0.3 per cent, Perth by 0.9 per cent and Darwin by 3.9 per cent.