Sydney Inner Suburbs Endure Sharp House Price Drops
The prime part of the market appears most affected.
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House prices in some of Sydney’s inner suburbs have lost, in some cases, more than $190,000 in the past three months to February as the market slowdown steepens with poor affordability, tighter lending and higher fixed interest rates according to the latest CoreLogic data.
The Sydney suburb of Beaconsfield, nearby the city’s airport, posted a 9.2% drop in median house values to $1.77 million, the largest percentage decline recorded in any house market in the country. Prices in Beaconsfield are now $162,662 lower than three months ago.
Elsewhere, Newtown saw values fall by 6.6% or $120,207 down to $1.821 million, Surry Hills is down 6.1% to $134,054 to $2.197 and Birchgrove lost 6% or $190,581 to 3.176 million.
According to CoreLogic’s head of research, Eliza Owen, the premium end was more volatile compared to the lower end.
“I think affordability constraints, tighter lending conditions and higher fixed rates have likely been enough to cool premium markets, and the sharpness of the fall relates to the volatility in the high end of the market, and the extremely strong run up in price growth,” she said.
Away from Sydney’s market, Melbourne has seen its own market cooling with house prices in Prahran, Cremorne, South Yarra and Windsor tumbling by more than 5% while Toorak dipped 4.7% during the same period.
According to Ms Owen, the affordable end of the market would continue to outperform the upper end as the broader market begins to slow.
“Based on historical performance of property values, I think the next 12 months should see more steady performance in affordable segments of Sydney and Melbourne,” she said.
“More affordable segments tend to have less volatility in growth rates – the highs are not as high, but the lows are not as low,” she said.
Chris Dixon, a partner who led the charge, says he has a ‘very long-term horizon’
Americans now think they need at least $1.25 million for retirement, a 20% increase from a year ago, according to a survey by Northwestern Mutual
Capital cities lead the way as median home values see clear upswing
2 min
Home values continue their upwards trajectory, recording the strongest monthly growth in 18 months, CoreLogic data shows.
The property data provider reports that their Home Value Index has noted a third consecutive rise in values in May, accelerating 1.2 percent over the past month. This is on the back of a 0.6 percent increase in March and 0.5 percent rise in April.
Sydney recorded the strongest results, up 1.8 percent, the highest recorded in the city since September 2021. The fall in Sydney’s home values bottomed in January but have since accelerated sharply by 4.8 percent, adding $48,390 to the median dwelling value.
Melbourne recorded more modest gains, with home values increasing by 0.9 percent, bringing the total rise this quarter to 1.6 percent. It was the smaller capitals of Brisbane (up 1.4 percent) and Perth (up 1.3 percent) that reported stronger gains.
CoreLogic research director Tim Lawless said the lack of housing stock was an obvious influence on the growing values.
“Advertised listings trended lower through May with roughly 1,800 fewer capital city homes advertised for sale relative to the end of April. Inventory levels are -15.3 percent lower than they were at the same time last year and -24.4 percent below the previous five-year average for this time of year,” he said.
“With such a short supply of available housing stock, buyers are becoming more competitive and there’s an element of FOMO creeping into the market.
“Amid increased competition, auction clearance rates have trended higher, holding at 70 percent or above over the past three weeks. For private treaty sales, homes are selling faster and with less vendor discounting.”
Vendor discounting has been a feature in some parts of the country, particularly prestige regional areas that saw rapid price rises during the pandemic – and subsequent falls as people returned to the workplace in major centres.
The CoreLogic Home Value Index reports while prices appear to have found the floor in regional areas, the pace of recovery has been slower.
“Although regional home values are trending higher, the rate of gain hasn’t kept pace with the capitals. Over the past three months, growth in the combined capitals index was more than triple the pace of growth seen across the combined regionals at 2.8% and 0.8% respectively,” Mr Lawless said.
“Although advertised housing supply remains tight across regional Australia, demand from net overseas migration is less substantial. ABS data points to around 15% of Australia’s net overseas migration being centred in the regions each year. Additionally, a slowdown in internal migration rates across the regions has helped to ease the demand side pressures on housing.”
Chris Dixon, a partner who led the charge, says he has a ‘very long-term horizon’
Americans now think they need at least $1.25 million for retirement, a 20% increase from a year ago, according to a survey by Northwestern Mutual
