One housing analyst believes it’s still too early to call time on the nation’s biggest property markets, with a new report showing Sydney and Melbourne house prices experienced strong growth in the 12 months to the end of August.
The report, compiled by onthehouse.com.au analyst Eliza Owen, shows that house prices in Sydney grew by 21.65% over the 12 month period, while in Melbourne house prices grew by 9.27%.
Unit prices in Sydney grew by 14.33% over the same period, while in Melbourne prices were up 5.24%.
Though unit prices grew year-on-year, over the month of August it was a different story, with Sydney prices falling 0.62%, while in Melbourne prices were down over the month by the slightest margin of 0.01%.
The decrease in Sydney is the first the city’s unit market has experienced since February 2014.
While speculation has been rife in recent times about the health of the two markets, Owen said it would be premature to call the end of their booms.
“Monthly growth figures can be a volatile, so I think it would be too early to say their boom’s over. Quarterly data from the next few months will be more worthwhile, and it will be interesting to see what trends it shows,” Owen said.
“In spring we typically see higher rates of capital growth compared to winter, so what happens during the next month or two should really show what the two markets are doing,” she said.
While she is unwilling to say Sydney and Melbourne are in a slowdown, Owen said there a currently some signs emerging which have historically indicated a slowdown could be on the horizon.
“The signs that are present at the moment are ones around the structural framework of housing.
