A variable Australian property market holds firm in 2024 as west coast investors cash in
The old adage ‘as safe as houses’ still holds true for Australian property owners
2 min
If there is one word to describe the Australian property market this year, it’s resilience.
That’s according to data released by CoreLogic today as part of its Best of the Best report.
Despite the cash rate remaining unmoved at 4.35 percent in 2024, home sales went up by 8 percent compared with last year and increased 6 percent on the previous five-year average. In signs that property continues to be a sound choice for investors, home values have risen 5.5 percent over the past 12 months, with the overall value of Australian homes now in excess of $11 trillion.
Head of research at CoreLogic, Eliza Owen, noted that there was significant ‘variability’ across markets, with Melbourne recording a fall of -2.3 percent in annual values while Perth saw home values rise by 21 percent over the same period. It was a similar story in regional areas, with regional Victoria experiencing falls of -2.7 percent and regional Western Australia witnessing a 15.5 percent increase.
Indeed, the Geraldton suburb of Beachlands in WA took out the top spot for the greatest increase in house values nationally, with a rise of 38.4 percent. In the unit market, Dolphins Heads in the Mackay region of Queensland experienced the most growth this year, with an increase in values of 52.8 percent. In capital city markets, Perth took out all 10 spots for strongest growth in house values.
While the greatest gains in terms of percentages were in the bottom quarter of the market, the greatest results were at the luxury end, with Sydney’s Mosman holding its position with the highest total value of house sales over the past 12 months at $1.652 billion.
While it has been a good year for those already in the market, there are indicators that conditions in 2025 could soften, with the final quarter of 2024 recording less robust results.
“The market’s initial strength in 2024 gradually waned due to declining demand, rising levels of advertised supply, and a shifting outlook for inflation and interest rates,” Ms Owen said.
However, she said an anticipated interest rate cut in the first half of 2025 and the possibility of wages growth next year made further increases in property values hard to predict.
“While market conditions are broadly expected to improve off the back of a cash rate
reduction in 2025, there will still be considerable diversity in housing market performance,” she said.
Australian shares fell on Thursday as Wall Street weakness, rising oil and persistent rate concerns weighed on most of the market. The S&P/ASX 200 declined 0.72 per cent to 8,702. The All Ordinaries lost 0.66 per cent to finish at 8,897. Mining stocks were hit particularly hard, while real estate also dragged on the index. …
Continue reading “ASX falls 0.7 per cent as miners and property stocks retreat”
Borrowers cannot control the Reserve Bank, but they can control how exposed their household budget is to its next decision. The RBA meets on 29 September with inflation concerns still elevated and major-bank economists increasingly bringing forward their rate-rise calls. Fixed mortgage rates have also been moving, reducing the value of waiting for perfect certainty. …
Continue reading “What mortgage holders should do before the next RBA decision”
A five-bedroom Palo Alto home designed by Steven Ehrlich is listed for $44 million, making it the city’s most expensive listing. Built around a dramatic concrete spine, the home features four courtyards and a pool.
3 min
For years, tech entrepreneur Asher Waldfogel and his wife, Helyn MacLean, dreamed of building a modern house in Palo Alto, Calif.
The couple, however, worried about clashing with the Mediterranean-style architecture typically associated with their neighborhood of Old Palo Alto.
So they tapped architect Steven Ehrlich to create a design that paid homage to its surroundings with stucco, mahogany and titanium zinc cladding. They spent $20 million over several years building the house, completed in 2005.
Now looking to be closer to their adult daughter on the East Coast, they are putting the five-bedroom home on the market for $44 million—the most expensive listing in Palo Alto.
Waldfogel is an angel investor who co-founded Redback Networks, a telecommunications-equipment company. MacLean previously had a career in fundraising.
The couple purchased the roughly 0.4-acre site for $7.1 million in 2000 and demolished a circa-1930s Spanish Colonial home. The house they built pinwheels around a central staircase. It has 7,900 square feet of livable space, with four distinct courtyards and a pool.
A key feature of the home is a cast-in-place concrete wall, or spine, that is two stories high and about 80 feet long. “There’s a little bit of controlled chaos in what comes out of the form,” unlike a perfectly uniform surface, Waldfogel said. “If you want that, you do it in plastic.”
Waldfogel said he and his wife are thinking about the next phase of life now that their daughter is grown, although they have not decided where they will move. They also have a home in Sun Valley, Idaho.
“Right now we’re just trying to emotionally let go and decide what to do next,” he said.
Palo Alto, an epicenter of venture capital and tech startups in Silicon Valley, is home to some of the country’s biggest tech titans. Sales volume and prices are rising, with a median sale price of $3.5 million for the three months ending in August, up 5.8% year-over-year, according to real-estate brokerage Redfin.
Arthur Sharif of Sotheby’s International Realty—San Francisco Brokerage has the listing.
Australian shares fell on Thursday as Wall Street weakness, rising oil and persistent rate concerns weighed on most of the market. The S&P/ASX 200 declined 0.72 per cent to 8,702. The All Ordinaries lost 0.66 per cent to finish at 8,897. Mining stocks were hit particularly hard, while real estate also dragged on the index. …
Continue reading “ASX falls 0.7 per cent as miners and property stocks retreat”
An opulent Ryde home, packed with cinema, pool, sauna and more, is hitting the auction block with a $1 reserve.
