Housing market 'vulnerable'

The result marks an improvement on the 75 per cent figure returned in the previous survey, but is still indicative of a widespread belief that price falls are set to come.

CoreLogic RP Data head of research Tim Lawless said dwelling values are unlikely to fall substantially; however, declines in Sydney and Melbourne after strong runs of capital gains are probable.

“Home values are already trending lower in Darwin and Perth. It was less than three and a half years ago that capital city dwelling values fell by 7.4 per cent between October 2010 and May 2012,” he said.

The survey also found that 95 per cent of respondents believe foreign demand is pushing housing values higher, with 19 per cent indicating that foreign buyers were responsible for placing ‘extreme’ upwards pressure on home values.

Fifty-five per cent of those surveyed think that the current housing market conditions represent a good time to buy a property, down from 60 per cent in June.

According to the survey, respondents based in the Sydney market were the most pessimistic about buying conditions, with only 29.7 per cent of respondents indicating that they thought now was a good time to be getting into the market.

That compares with more than 70 per cent of survey respondents who think buying conditions are ripe in the Australian Capital Territory, Adelaide, regional Queensland and Perth.

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