After peaking in October and holding steady in November, the December dip also pulled the quarterly change into negative territory, marking a -0.1% drop.
This small decline brings an end to a robust period of growth that lasted from February 2023 to October 2024—a period defined by high interest rates, cost-of-living pressures, and reduced borrowing capacity.
CoreLogic’s research director, Tim Lawless, explained that the decline was not unexpected.
“This result represents the housing market catching up with the reality of market dynamics,” he said. “Growth in housing values has been consistently weakening through the second half of the year, as affordability constraints weighed on buyer demand and advertised supply levels trended higher.”
Mid-sized capitals lead annual growth
While national home values rose by 4.9% over 2024, adding approximately $38,000 to the median home value, the performance varied significantly across different regions.
Three capital cities, Melbourne (-3.0%), Hobart (-0.6%), and the ACT (-0.4%), recorded annual declines. On the other hand, mid-sized capitals showed remarkable gains, with Perth leading at 19.1%, followed by Adelaide at 13.1% and Brisbane at 11.2%.
Despite their strong annual growth, these markets appear to have passed their peak rates of increase. Perth’s annual growth slowed from a high of 24.7% in July, Adelaide eased from 14.6% in August, and Brisbane peaked at 17.0% in April.
December saw a shift in quarterly rankings, with Adelaide surpassing Perth as the strongest-performing market. Adelaide values rose 2.1% over the December quarter, compared to 1.9% for Perth and 1.3% for Brisbane.
“Extremely low advertised stock levels have continued to support strong growth conditions across Adelaide, with stock levels tracking -34% below the previous five-year average in mid-December,” Mr Lawless explained.
“Perth, on the other hand, has seen a clear lift in advertised supply, which has provided buyers with more choice and less urgency, supporting a sharper slowdown in value growth relative to Adelaide,” he added.
Affordability drives growth in lower-priced markets
The most affordable quartile of capital city markets showed the highest rates of value growth in 2024. Across the combined capitals, lower-quartile housing values rose by 9.8%, while upper-quartile values increased by just 1.5%.
“With worsening affordability constraints and reduced borrowing capacity, we have seen buyer demand pushed towards lower-priced markets, which has, in turn, supported stronger growth conditions in these areas,” Mr Lawless said.
Regional markets also performed strongly, with values rising 6.0% over the year, compared to 4.5% across the combined capital cities. Regional Western Australia (+16.1%), South Australia (+12.5%), and Queensland (+10.5%) dominated value growth. However, regional Victoria (-2.7%) and the Northern Territory (-4.7%) were the only areas to record annual declines.
