Australia`s highest-priced property market has been hardest hit by a downturn in property prices. (photo by Aussie)
Australia`s highest-priced property market has been hardest hit by a downturn in housing prices, while first-time homebuyers` stimulus has pushed up the value of more affordable homes, the Australian newspaper reported.
CoreLogic, a property data analyst, looked at the performance of 10 price-grade housing markets in state capitals in the first quarter of this year.
The results showed that property prices across Australia fell 0.3 percent in the first three months of the year, driven by a decline in the value of property at the top three levels of the year. And the top 10% most affordable housing prices rose 1.6%. The trend was most pronounced in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. Perth`s high-end housing market is more robust.
Sydney property prices between A $1.82 million and A $75 million are reported to have fallen 7.2 percent in the year to April and 1.9 percent in the first quarter of this year. The only rise in prices was in the top 10% of low-priced properties below A $555821. Melbourne`s home price of more than A $1.4 million also fell 1.9% in the first quarter of this year. The top 10% of properties in Brisbane priced above A $831375 fell 0.8%.
In Melbourne, however, property prices below A $803723 rose, as did most low-priced homes in Brisbane. Hobart`s house prices rose across the board. Adelaide`s best performance is the mid-price property.
Kush (Cameron Kusher), an analyst surveyed by CoreLogic, said it was clear that first-time home buyers had spurred low-cost property prices in major cities, while higher-priced properties had been hit by a downturn in the housing market. Buyers are now being more cautious and borrowing policies are tightening, making it difficult to get enough money to buy high-end properties, he said.
In addition, Kush believes that the high-end housing market recession may have an impact on the low-cost housing market, or cause low-cost housing to reduce or disappear. He said that currently, property under A $ seven hundred and fifty thousand is eligible for stamp duty and that if the housing market in the price range continues to develop, fewer and fewer properties under A $ seven hundred and fifty thousand will be available.
