Property prices continue to tick higher, despite high interest rates and cost of living pressures, however, there is still a big disparity between the different cities.
According to the latest Herron Todd White (HTW) Month in Review, the mid-sized capitals of Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth continue to power through, all on track for double-digit annual growth.
Headline insights:
- The Sydney residential property market has recorded one of its flattest periods in years, with house values up 2.1 per cent this year and units up 1.7 per cent.
- Melbourne home values are down 0.3 per cent this year, with higher interest rates and increased property taxes taking their toll on some suburbs, while the more prestigious areas plough ahead.
- Brisbane has been amongst the nation’s strongest over the past 12 months, with a 15.8 per cent increase, with attached housing exceeding detached housing in some suburbs.
- Adelaide house prices have risen 12.5 per cent year-on-year to a record high of $760,000.
- The median house price in Perth has risen $95,000 over the past 12 months to reach $650,000, to be the strongest in the country.
- The Darwin dwelling market has remained stable across most segments with the best-performing sub-market being the rural residential market in suburbs such as Howard Springs, Humpty Doo and Virginia.
- Canberra is experiencing accelerated housing supply, particularly in the form of units and townhouses and it’s been weighing on values.
- Hobart is a seller’s market with softening demand impacted by rising interest rates and a slowing economy.
Deeper insights:
HTW, Director, Shaun Thomas, said the mid-sized capitals of Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth continue to power through, all on track for double-digit annual growth
“In fact, Perth already achieved that in the first half of the year,” Mr Thomas said.
“According to CoreLogic, Brisbane now has a higher median dwelling value than both Melbourne and Canberra, showing the continued strength in that market post the pandemic.”
He said many economists had forecast that a rate cut would not come until 2025, and there was a chance of a cash rate increase in the next few months.
“This has resulted in the major capital markets in Sydney and Melbourne, along with the smaller capital markets in Hobart, Darwin and Canberra, starting to flat line, and in some cases decline, as buyers and sellers enter the winter season in somewhat of a holding pattern,” he said.
“Median values in regional areas seem to generally be tracking in line with their state capitals so far in 2024, with the exceptions of regional Tasmania performing slightly better than Hobart, while regional Western Australia, although still performing very strongly, is tracking slightly behind Perth.”
Mr Thomas said another factor that continued to underpin many residential markets is the lack of supply of new dwellings, which have not kept pace with demand.
“As a result, we are not only seeing property values hold up or increase during a period of relatively high interest rates and cost of living pressures, we are also seeing rental vacancy rates remain at historic lows, leading to continued strong growth in asking rents across nearly all capital cities for both houses and units,” he said.
