‘Strong finish’ to 2019’s housing values

Darwin was the only region among the capital cities and ‘rest-of-state’ areas to record a fall in values over the month, with a 0.5 per cent decline, CoreLogic noted.

“Although the monthly capital gains trend remains fast-paced, the 1.1 per cent rise in December was softer relative to the 1.7 per cent gain in November and the 1.2 per cent rise in October,” head of research Tim Lawless said.

“This would suggest that the pace of capital gains may have been dampened by higher advertised stock levels or worsening affordability pressures through early summer.”

Looking at the collective year results, CoreLogic revealed Australian dwelling values tracked 2.3 per cent higher over 2019, “with five of the eight capital cities, and five of the seven ‘rest-of-state’ regions, seeing the year out in positive growth territory”.

“Amongst the capitals, Sydney and Melbourne recorded the highest annual capital gain, with both cities posting a 5.3 per cent rise in dwelling values over the year,” it said.

“Regional Tasmania, where values were 6.1 per cent higher over the year, led the regional markets. Values were down in Darwin by 9.7 per cent, 6.8 per cent lower in Perth and 0.2 per cent lower in Adelaide over the year, while values also fell across regional Western Australia (-11.8 per cent) and regional NSW (-1.1 per cent).”

Commenting further, Mr Lawless said, “The positive year-end results mask what has been a year of two distinct halves – we saw capital city dwelling values fall by 3.8 per cent over the first six months of 2019 and then rebound by 7.0 per cent over the second half of the year.

“The housing value rebound was spurred on by lower mortgage rates, a relaxation in borrower serviceability assessments, improved housing affordability and renewed certainty around property taxation policies post the federal election.

“Lower advertised stock levels persisted providing additional upwards pressure on prices amidst rising buyer activity.”