Tamika Seeto* says new data show the housing market downturn is spreading.
The housing market downturn has become more widespread, with property values dropping in four out of every five suburbs across the capital cities.
New data from CoreLogic’s Mapping the Market tool showed 79.5 per cent of house and unit markets went backwards over the September quarter, or 2,405 of the markets analysed.
It’s almost double the number recorded in the previous quarter, with the housing market decline accelerated by six consecutive rate hikes.
“This analysis shows the effect of the three 50-basis-point rate hikes through the September quarter, plus the lagged impact of the first two hikes [totalling 75 basis points] in May and June,” CoreLogic economist Kaytlin Ezzy said.
“So, it’s not surprising to see significantly more markets recording a decline in value.”
Property values dropped 4.3 per cent over the September quarter across the combined capitals, a sharp fall from the 0.8 per cent decrease recorded in the three months to June.
House values fell in every analysed suburb in Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra and Hobart over the quarter.
Unit values also dropped in every Hobart suburb analysed.
“Darwin, Perth and Adelaide had the lowest portions of house and unit markets experiencing quarterly declines, which is a reflection of those cities reaching their peak a little later in the cycle than the larger capitals,” Ezzy said.
“Unsurprisingly, Sydney and Melbourne also have the highest share of house and unit markets recording an annual decline in values.”
How much have prices fallen?
In Sydney, housing values fell 0.7 per cent over the previous quarter, taking values 6.4 per cent lower than this time last year.
The rate of decline varied from suburb to suburb, ranging from a 13.0 per cent drop in Asquith in the Hornsby region to a 0.8 per cent drop in Silverdale in the Outer West regional.
For units, values fell 3.9 per cent over the September quarter.
In Melbourne, house values fell 4.2 per cent over the quarter and 4.9 per cent over the year, taking the median house value to $937,131.
Units fell 2.6 per cent in the September quarter, dropping the median value to $603,276.
In Brisbane, house values fell 5.1 per cent.
But only two suburbs saw a decline in house values compared to this time last year – Chermside (-1.8 per cent) and Fairfield (-0.3 per cent).
After rising 3.5 per cent in the June quarter, unit values across Brisbane rose just 0.4 per cent over the September quarter.
*Tamika Seeto is a journalist at Yahoo Finance Australia covering personal finance, work and careers amongst other topics.
This article first appeared at au.finance.yahoo.com.
