Autumn blues as capital city dwelling values dip again in May: RP Data
Autumn has brought with it a cold wind blowing through the property market.
With just a few days to go until the end of the month, the RP Data daily index suggests house values will decline by about 1% in May following a 0.5% drop in April.
“RP Data's capital city dwelling index looking soft for May, likely to be down nearly 1% for month (-0.9% past 28 days),” tweeted RP Data national research director Tim Lawless today.
This follows dwelling values posted a solid 2.8% gain over the first three months of 2013.
The graph below, posted by Lawless, shows the modest and bumpy recovery beginning in about November last year and the recent dip.
Click to enlarge
The latest property market decline was noted by economist Stephen Koukoulas from consultancy Market Economics.
"House prices are falling again. If these falls are the start of a new trend lower rather than just a bit of a blip could be a very unpleasant signal that will require a policy reaction from the Reserve Bank," he wrote on Business Spectator today.
RP Data senior research analyst Cameron Kusher noted in April that dwelling values are “typically the strongest for growth” in the first quarter of the year.