House prices in Australia’s star property market, Sydney, declined over the past three months, according to new figures from
CoreLogic RP Data.
Sydney was the only capital city to have recorded a fall in house prices over the quarter to February 2015, down 0.2%. The cities to record the greatest price rises over the past three months were Hobart (8.5%), Melbourne (3.8%) and Brisbane (2%). Over the eight capital cities combined, house prices rose 1.4% over the quarter.
Over the past 12 months, combined capital city home values have increased by 7.6%, with the annual growth rate down from a recent peak of 11.1% recorded in July last year.
Despite the slowing trend, Sydney remains the second best performing capital city over the past twelve months. But CoreLogic RP Data head of research
Tim Lawless says this might not be for long.
“A few of the smaller cities, where growth rates have recently accelerated, may start to rival Sydney’s position over the coming months. The trend in home value growth is showing signs of increasing in those markets that have previously underperformed. These include Brisbane, Adelaide, Hobart and Canberra.
Affordability constraints aren’t as apparent in these cities and rental yields haven’t been compressed to the same extent as what they have in Melbourne or Sydney.”
House prices in Brisbane increased by 5.5% over the past year, which is the fastest annual growth rate recorded for the city in a year. In Hobart, home values are 6.2% higher over the year, which is its fastest annual rate of house price growth since July 2010.
Melbourne has maintained its number one growth position for now, with annual capital gains of 11.1% over the year to February. But the annual rate of capital gain has remained virtually level over the past three months.
