Home prices surged to new heights across Australia in August

The property data company said prices within the combined capital cities increased by 6.49 per cent over the last 12 months, after most recently increasing by 0.25 per cent during August 2024.

Commenting on the state of the country’s markets, PropTrack senior economist Eleanor Creagh relayed that “national home prices have cycled through 20 consecutive months of growth”, while also noting that “the pace of growth has slowed in the seasonally quieter period”.

“Although the number of homes hitting the market has lifted, strong population growth, tight rental, markets and home equity gains are bolstering demand,” she said.

Across the capital cities, Proptrack reported that Perth (+0.79 per cent), Hobart (+0.63 per cent) and Adelaide (+0.45 per cent) displayed the strongest growth in August 2024.

Perth and Adelaide’s gains, alongside Brisbane’s, registered the fastest pace of growth for much of the past two years, with prices up by 23.4 per cent in Perth, 15.12 per cent in Adelaide, and 13.95 per cent in Brisbane over the past 12 months.

Despite home price growth in Sydney slowing over the winter months, prices still registered as 0.32 per cent higher over August.

Weighing in on the conditions which have supported the recent price growth, Creagh stated that “July’s tax cuts boosted borrowing capacities and buyer’s budgets, while the persistent growth in home prices is likely motivating many to overcome affordability challenges”.

“As a result, housing demand remains buoyant, defying affordability constraints and pushing prices higher across much of the country,” she added.

Beyond this broader trend however, the senior economist stressed that “price growth differs around the country with the balance between supply and demand driving that variance”.

Home prices in Melbourne fell by 0.18 per cent over August 2024, marking the fifth straight month of price decreases and contributing to the greater 1.98 per cent price decline that has occurred over the last five months.

Citing the multispeed nature of Australia’s market, PropTrack detailed that performance also differed within regional areas, with the 0.41 per cent price growth in Western Australia and 0.26 per cent growth in regional Queensland leading in August 2024 and over the last year.

Contrastingly, price growth in regional Victoria was stated to have “sustained its streak of relative weakness”, with prices down 1.74 per cent over the past year.

Looking into the last quarter of 2024, Creagh stated that “home prices are expected to lift as activity ramps up into the spring selling season”.

Nevertheless, the senior economist expressed that “the expected uplift in choice, the uncertainty around timing of interest rate cuts and affordability constraints are likely to dampen the pace of price growth”.