Arabic version: المنازل الفاخرة تقود تراجع العقارات في سيدني وملبورن

According to ABC News, high-end houses in Sydney and Melbourne are leading a broader housing downturn, with homes in the top 25 per cent of values falling more than 10 per cent from their peaks.

Cotality’s September housing charts showed expensive homes were down 10.7 per cent below peak levels in Sydney and 10.5 per cent in Melbourne. The median value for these homes was $2.1 million in Sydney and $1.2 million in Melbourne. Lower-priced houses and units showed greater resilience.

Cotality head of research Gerard Burg said declines had also begun in Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth, after Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra turned first. In those newer downturn markets, falls were more evenly distributed across price points, he said.

National annual sales fell 2.7 per cent in the year to August, while capital-city sales dropped 5.2 per cent. Regional sales rose 1.8 per cent. Australian Centre for Housing Research director Emma Baker said the correction had mostly affected investors, while lower-end buyers still needed somewhere to live.

Herron Todd White group CEO Peter Maloney cited stretched affordability, elevated borrowing costs and increased stock in some markets. Ray White Group chief economist Nerida Conisbee said open-home attendance halved between January and July, then stopped declining and edged up.