Australian Housing Prices Drop for 6 Months in a Row

CANBERRA:
Housing price in Australia have recorded a sixth-month slump in a row, according to the latest data released on Tuesday.

Property analyst firm, Corelogic’s national ‘Home Value Index’ monthly report revealed that across the nation dwelling values fell by a further 1.2 per cent in October from a month earlier, with every capital city and nearly every region recording a drop in housing values, reports Xinhua news agency.

Among the capital cities, Brisbane saw the most pronounced fall of 2 per cent, while the pace of falls continued to ease across Sydney and Melbourne.

New South Wales (down 1.7 per cent) and Victoria (down 1.4 per cent) fell the most, although prices rose slightly in South Australia (up 0.1 per cent).

Corelogic’s Research Director Tim Lawless said it is probably still too early to claim the worst of the decline phase is over.

“Despite the easing in the pace of decline, with Australian borrowers facing the double whammy of further interest rate hikes along with persistently high and rising inflation, there is a genuine risk we could see the rate of decline re-accelerate as interest rates rise further and household balance sheets become more thinly stretched,” he said.

The Reserve Bank of Australia has increased rates six times from May to 2.6 per cent.

It is scheduled to unveil the monthly monetary decision on Tuesday with a further 0.25 percentage point increase widely expected.

The Corelogic data also revealed that the prices of house continued to fall at a faster rate than the prices of unit across most regions.

“With borrowing capacity being hit hard as interest rates rise, it’s likely more housing demand has been diverted towards more affordable sectors of the market,” Lawless said.