A TALE OF TWO MARKETS

WHY HOME PRICES IN HALF OF AUSTRALIA’S CAPITALS KEEP SURGING WHILE OTHERS SLUMP

4/10/2024 12:22pm

Home prices across Australia saw a small uptick last month, a new report has shown, but the gains were skewed toward the country's secondary cities – leaving other markets behind as supply ramps up in spring.

National dwelling prices rose by a very slight 0.04% in September, bringing the country's median to $792,000, the PropTrack Home Price Index released on Tuesday showed.

Adelaide, Perth and Brisbane all saw relatively strong monthly growth, and September saw the three secondary cities record very strong annual gains – 15%, 22% and 13% respectively.

In the other capital cities, prices were either stagnant or declined for the month, though there was a clear winner in terms of annual gains – with Sydney's overall dwelling median up by 4.88% for the year.

Melbourne and Hobart fared worst for the month (about a 0.30% decline for each city) but for the year, Melbourne was the wooden spoon winner, seeing a 1.79% fall in the overall dwelling median.

The top-performing capital cities

Adelaide saw the highest monthly growth for overall dwelling medians – 0.53% to a new peak of $778,000.

Though PropTrack data showed Adelaide was still chasing Melbourne in terms of overall home prices, units in Adelaide were now more expensive than those in Melbourne – with medians of $607,000 and $606,000 respectively.

However, coastal areas with higher price-points were also seeing strong buyer activity – with many coming from nearby towns in regional Victoria and even from Melbourne, seeking the comparative affordability which persists – for now.

Perth continued its strong price-growth trend in September with a 0.24% increase in the median dwelling price, though this was slightly slower than in recent months.

Similarly in Brisbane, an influx of spring listings has slowed price-growth, but not by much.

A mixed bag around the country

Sydney's monthly growth was essentially negligible at 0.01%, but annual growth to September took the city's overall median to $1,103,000.

For the first time in a year, the combined monthly regional median increased by a higher percentage than the combined capital city median, the report showed. Regional areas saw a price-increase of 0.11% for the month, while capital city prices stayed essentially flat (0.01%).

In Darwin and the ACT prices stay relatively flat, recording annual changes of +0.94% and -0.38% respectively.

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