Not necessarily a bubble: HSBC's Paul Bloxham on Sydney house prices

Sydney purchasers need to be very careful, because at some point there has to be some correction, HSBC Australia chief economist Paul Bloxham has again warned.

"Sydney house prices are running at an unsustainable pace," he told AAP.

Following recent strong gains that are set to continue, HSBC is forecasting Sydney house prices will be broadly flat in 2016, though not experiencing a big fall.

"The more Sydney house prices go up, the more likely it is that they will have to correct, and that's not necessarily a bubble," the former RBA economist said.

Earlier this year, after the February rate cute, he noted he was worried about the Sydney property market.

Speaking at the Australian Mortgage Innovation Summit, HSBC’s chief economist, Paul Bloxham, said the only housing market that the RBA and APRA needed to be cautious of was Sydney. 

"In Sydney, this is going to be quite a challenge.

"The rest of the market doesn’t look over inflated. 

"I don’t think there is a housing bubble in Australia. 

"I think that if Sydney sees the same trends as we have seen over the last year or two, that is house prices is running at an annual inflation rate of 13% year on year, then if that continues for very much longer than you will need to see prices at some point will come down.”

The summit was hosted by Asia-Pacific Banking & Finance.