Home prices across Australia fell sharply in January, with Melbourne down 1.7 percent and Sydney down 1.4 percent. (photo by Sydney Morning Herald)
Australia`s national real estate market is in a state of free fall. Prices across Australia fell sharply in January, with Melbourne down 1.7 percent and Sydney down 1.4 percent, according to the latest figures.
Housing prices in all capital cities, except Canberra, fell in January and accelerated in the past three months, according to the Sydney Morning Herald, according to CoreLogic, a housing market research firm.
Home prices for Melbourne`s single-family homes have fallen 10.6 percent in the past 12 months, taking into account the January decline, while apartment prices have fallen 1.3 percent in January and 3 percent for the year. Housing prices in parts of the region have fallen sharply in the past year, with prices in the inner east city falling 15 percent and in the south down 11.7 percent.
Sydney`s house prices also fell 10.9% in 2018. Similar to Melbourne, the price of Sydney apartments did not fall as sharply as stand-alone homes, falling just 6.9%. Among them, home prices fell 13.4 percent in (Ryde) and 12.1 percent in southwestern China.
In addition to the above two major markets, prices across Australia also generally fell. Prices in Perth (1.1%), Darwin (0.9%), Brisbane (0.3%) and Hobart (0.2%) all fell in January, with only the capital Canberra up 0.3% against the tide.
Hobart was once Australia`s strongest growing housing market, rising 7% a year. But even home prices in the capital of the tower are starting to fall, according to CoreLogic.
Lorez (Tim Lawless), a senior analyst at CoreLogic, said it was clear that Sydney and Melbourne were leading the Australian housing market to a trough. He said that while home prices in Sydney and Melbourne had rebounded somewhat in the early stages of the decline, it was clear that the housing markets in both major cities had fallen across the board.
Lorez said the credit crunch, reduced consumer confidence, reduced domestic and foreign investment and increased housing supply were the main factors contributing to the deterioration of the housing market. He also noted that prices in Sydney and Melbourne were the biggest in inner-central urban areas, while prices in peripheral areas were relatively low, thanks to first-time buyers` bids.
Overall, house prices in Australia fell 1% in January and 5.6% in 2018.
CoreLogic data also showed that the city`s top and bottom of the housing market has both fallen. Prices in Sydney`s top market have fallen 10.6 percent over the past year, while prices in the bottom market have fallen 7.6 percent, while those in Melbourne`s top market have fallen 12.4 percent, but the bottom market has fallen only 0.8 percent.
Lorez said the number of new homes on sale had declined, but that the real estate had been on the market for more and more time. In Melbourne, sales of real estate were 34% higher than a year ago, compared with 24% in Sydney.
