Arabic version: أسعار المنازل الأسترالية تسجل أكبر تراجع شهري منذ 2022
According to SBS News, national home prices fell 0.7 per cent last month, marking Australia’s largest monthly decline since December 2022. Property analytics company Cotality said the downturn was spreading as higher interest rates and changes to property taxes took effect.
Annual price growth slowed to 5.3 per cent, below the double-digit pace recorded earlier this year. Sydney and Melbourne, the country’s largest property markets, led the monthly falls, declining 1.4 per cent and 1.2 per cent respectively. Both cities are now more than five per cent below their recent peaks.
Brisbane and Adelaide also recorded declines, with prices down 0.6 per cent and 0.2 per cent. Perth, which had the strongest year-on-year growth of any capital city at 21.8 per cent, was nearly unchanged, rising 0.1 per cent. Regional markets fell 0.2 per cent, their first decline since January 2023.
Higher-priced homes have driven the weakness. Properties in the top quarter of the market lost 3.2 per cent of their value in the three months to July, while the lower-price tier gained 0.3 per cent. Cotality said lower competition and stock levels elevated compared with the start of the year could give remaining buyers more choice and negotiating power.
Cotality head of research Gerard Burg said there remained a mismatch between buyer and seller price expectations. He said new listings had deteriorated in recent weeks, led by Sydney, as potential vendors waited for conditions to improve. Rental prices continued to rise because of low vacancy rates, with national median rents increasing by more than $200 a week over the past five years.
