Property prices across Australia’s capital cities continued to rise higher in April, however at a slower pace than we saw the previous month. 

New figures from CoreLogic’s national home value index show that housing values went up by 1.8% in April, after reaching a 32-year high in March when prices went up by 2.8%. 

But even though we’ve seen market conditions ease slightly, housing values are still a dramatic 10.2% higher than they were in the COVID low in September last year.

Some have speculated that the easing of prices in April was simply a blip, possibly due to the Easter holidays slowing the rush for property, however CoreLogic’s research director Tim Lawless believes the pace of capital growth could slow further. 

“The slowdown in housing value appreciation is unsurprising given the rapid rate of growth seen over the past six months, especially in the context of subdued wages growth.  

“With housing prices rising faster than incomes, it’s likely price sensitive sectors of the market, such as first home buyers and lower income households, are finding it harder to save for a deposit and transactional costs,” Lawless said. 

Lawless also noted that there is some evidence of fewer first home buyers in the market, with the Australian Bureau of Statistics reporting a -4.0% fall in the value of first home buyer home loans through February, the first drop since May last year.

There’s no arguing that we are still seeing solid price growth across the country, with every capital city and ‘rest-of-state’ region recording a lift in dwelling values over the month.

The highest gains were seen in Darwin (2.7%) and Sydney (2.4%), while Perth saw the lowest rate of growth amongst the capital cities with an increase of 0.8%.

 

Source: corelogic.com.au