Housing market conditions outside of Sydney and Melbourne show tentative sign of improvement: RBA August meeting minutes

Housing market conditions outside of Sydney and Melbourne show tentative sign of improvement: RBA August meeting minutes
Joel RobinsonDecember 7, 2020

The minutes of the RBA's meeting for August highlighted the turnaround in the housing market.

"The evidence that conditions in housing markets were showing signs of a turnaround had strengthened in July," the RBA members noted.

He suggested that in Sydney and Melbourne house prices had increased, with housing turnover appearing to have reached a trough.

They noted that auction clearance rates had risen further.

The minutes noted a slightly slower, but noticeable, turnaround in housing market conditions outside of Sydney and Melbourne.

"Outside the two largest cities, housing market conditions had shown tentative signs of improvement; prices had risen in Brisbane, while the pace of decline had slowed in Perth," the minutes read.

There's hope from the RBA that the house price decline could also trigger the downward trend of consumption. 

"Signs of a recovery in some established housing markets suggested that the dampening effect of declining housing prices on consumption could dissipate earlier than had previously been assumed.

Members observed that it could take some time for the stabilisation of conditions in the established housing market to translate into a pick-up in construction activity.

"Leading indicators suggested that dwelling investment was likely to decline further in the near term," the members said.

Residential building approvals had declined further over May and June and were around their lowest levels in six years.

The RBA members continued to state that they expect an extended period of low interest rates as they seek sustained progress towards full employment and the desired inflation target.

Again they said that would consider a further easing if necessary to support sustainable growth in the economy.

To read the full August RBA meeting minutes, click here.

 

 

Joel Robinson

Joel Robinson is a property journalist based in Sydney. Joel has been writing about the residential real estate market for the last five years, specializing in market trends and the economics and finance behind buying and selling real estate.

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