House prices fall in almost every capital city
House prices have dropped in almost every capital city, with Sydney prices dipping below the million-dollar median, a report has revealed.
According to the Domain House Price Report for the March Quarter, Melbourne and Hobart are the only capital cities where house prices are still rising.
The report showed that house prices in Hobart surged during the March quarter, rising by 4.3 per cent to $360,212, while Melbourne house prices rose by 1.2 per cent to $726,962.
Every other capital city saw a decline in house prices, including Darwin where house prices dropped sharply by 4.9 per cent to $610,305.
Sydney’s house prices fell, recording a quarter-on-quarter drop of 1.5 per cent, bringing the median down under the $1 million mark to $995,804.
This was followed by Canberra where house prices fell by 1.4 per cent after five consecutive quarters of growth.
In Perth, house prices dropped by 1.3 per cent to $579,914 over the quarter, while Adelaide recorded a 0.5 per cent drop to $491,422, and prices in Brisbane fell by 0.05 per cent to $512,809.
“Weakening economic activity and growing uncertainty is impacting fragile consumer and investment sentiment, leading to falling house and unit prices in most capital cities,” Domain chief economist Andrew Wilson said.
“The outlook for house prices remains subdued, with capital city growth likely to continue to track at best just above the inflation rate for the remainder of 2016.
“The prospect of weaker house price growth, however, will be welcomed by prospective first home buyers still struggling to get into the market.”