August 2018 marked the 11th consecutive month of falling home values nationally. Across Australia’s combined housing markets, property values dipped 0.3%, pushing values 2.2% below their September 2017 peak.

The results were mixed across individual cities. Home values fell in:

• Sydney (-0.3%) • Melbourne (-0.6%) • Brisbane (-0.2%) • Perth (-0.6%), and • Hobart (-0.1%).

By contrast, August saw property values rise in:

• Adelaide (+0.3%) • Darwin (+0.1%), and • Canberra (+0.5%).

Values drop 2% over the past year

The past year has seen a major turnaround in property markets. This time last year we were seeing growth rates of 9.7% in capital cities and 5.8% across regional areas.

In the last 12 months however, home values have dropped 2% nationally – the largest annual decline since July 2012.

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Sydney – values down 5.6%

Sydney home values are now 5.6% lower than when the city’s market peaked in July 2017. Even so, Sydney remains our least affordable city, and with a large number of homes listed for sale it’s a tough market for sellers. That could see property values in Sydney fall further in the months ahead.

Not only are further falls in Sydney values likely, property values in regional NSW are also expected to cool over the coming months.

Melbourne – city slows, country scores

Since the local market peaked in November 2017, Melbourne home values have dropped 3.5%, and the pace of decline has increased in recent months. Reduced housing affordability coupled with a large volume of homes listed for sale, is likely to see values in Melbourne continue their downward run for the remainder of 2018 and into 2019.

Meanwhile, housing in regional Victoria is considerably more affordable than in Melbourne. Not only have property values in regional areas been rising, they are likely to keep heading north in the months to come, though the pace of growth is slowing.

Brisbane – likely to trend higher

Interstate migration to Queensland has picked up but this hasn’t resulted in substantial changes to home prices. While values in Brisbane fell in August, prices are up 0.9% over the last 12 months, and the city’s home values are expected to rise over the coming months.

Property prices in regional Queensland rose just 0.4% over the past year, and the market is expected to remain soft.

Adelaide – take a bow!

Adelaide goes to the top of the leader board, having notched up price gains of 0.5% over the past three months, the strongest growth of any capital city. It takes Adelaide’s total value growth over the last year to 1%, and modest rises in value are likely over the coming months.

Regional South Australia is also set to see a moderate rise in home values in the months ahead.

Perth – sale volumes stabilise

Home prices continue to fall in Perth though at a slower pace than last year. The past 12 months has seen Perth values drop by 2.1%, and sales volumes are now stabilising. Even so, further moderate falls in home values across both Perth and regional areas of Western Australia are expected in the next few months.

Hobart – values starting to slow

The Tasmanian capital has been the star performer of Australia’s property market, bucking the trend of falling prices in many mainland cities, and recording gains of 10.7% over the past year. However, there are signs that things may be starting to change. Values in Hobart have seen a noticeable slowdown in recent months, and that’s not surprising as the cost of housing in Hobart is now similar to much larger cities such as Adelaide.

Outside of Hobart, values in regional Tasmania are still rising, a trend that’s expected to continue over the coming months.

Darwin – a varied picture

The last few months have seen plenty of action in Darwin’s property market, which has regularly recorded ups and downs in home values. Over the past year however, the city’s home values have dipped by 4%. Despite this volatility, Darwin values are expected to head lower. By contrast, values in regional areas of the Territory are trending higher, and this is expected to be sustained though at a fairly slow pace for the months ahead.

Canberra

Canberra has achieved respectable property value growth of 2.3% over the past year though there has been a slowdown in the growth of home values in the last few months. Nonetheless, Canberra values are continuing to trend higher, and this is likely to be maintained for the near future.

Your Aussie Broker can provide a free property market report on your home or suburb, so get in touch today to see how your property is fairing.