Sydney and Melbourne compete to lead the recovery as Perth struggles continue: CoreLogic September update
Sydney and Melbourne have continued their resurgence over September, jostling for the best performing capital.
They both saw dwelling values rise 1.7 per cent, taking Sydney's quarter value rise to 3.5 per cent, slightly higher than Melbourne's 3.4 per cent.
Last month both saw 1.6 per cent gains.
National dwelling values were up 0.9 per cent,
To enlarge the September CoreLogic dwelling results, click here.
The two major capital city markets are now the best performers over the quarter, dating back to July, the first month they recorded value gains after over 18 months of declines.
Canberra was a strong performer with one per cent gains over September after recording 0.8 per cent gains last month.
Brisbane's dwelling values rose slightly to continue its steady quarterly performance.
In Adelaide dwelling values held firm over September, however Darwin, Hobart and Perth all saw declines.
Hobart's -0.4 per cent declines were the biggest surprise having secured 0.5 per cent gains last month. Darwin recovered slightly from a -1.2 per cent decline in August to just -0.2 per cent in September.
Perth's property market has gone from bad to worse. They are now -1.9 per cent down over the quarter and nine per cent annually. The -0.8 per cent declines added to the -0.5 per cent drop in values last month.
The bounce back in Sydney and Melbourne continues to be driven by houses which rose 1.9 per cent over September.
Sydney's median house price is now back over $900,000. It was the biggest value jump for Sydney houses in over two years.
Melbourne's median house price is $729,000.
Units both still cleared one per cent, with Melbourne's units performing the stronger over the month, equalling Sydney's 3.3 per cent gains over the quarter.
CoreLogic head of research Tim Lawless said buyers in Sydney and Melbourne still have time to take advantage of the big declines they saw over 2018.
“Although housing values are now consistently tracking higher, at least at a macro-level, the national index remains 6.8% below the October 2017 peak, indicating that buyers still have some time to take advantage of improved housing affordability before values return to record highs," Lawless said.
House values remain 11.9% below their July 2017 peak in Sydney and 7.9% below Melbourne’s November 2017 peak.
Lawless believes that the strong rebound in Sydney and Melbourne housing markets relative to other regions, can be attributed to a variety of factors.
While all regions are benefitting from low mortgage rates and improved access to credit, economic and demographic conditions in New South Wales and Victoria continue to outperform most areas of the country.
"Population growth is higher, unemployment is lower and jobs growth is stronger, providing a solid platform for housing demand.”