Home prices hit peak after growth spike in regional areas, Adelaide

The latest figures from REA Group-backed PropTrack’s Home Price Index have revealed that the national median home price yet again reached a new record high in the month of April, after regional areas and Adelaide saw their highest monthly growth.

Australia’s median house price increased by 0.2 per cent to $805,000 this month, driven by 0.3 per cent of combined growth in regional areas and a further 0.3 per cent growth in Adelaide as well, as the South Australian capital (10.77 per cent) also surpasses Perth (9.30 per cent) in strongest annual growth.

Compared to this time last year, prices in capital cities are 3.35 per cent higher and are 4.61 per cent higher in regional areas. Sydney (+0.1 per cent), Brisbane (+0.19 per cent), Adelaide (+0.3 per cent), Perth (+0.1 per cent) and Darwin (+0.15 per cent) house prices all reached their highest points this month, with Hobart seeing the greatest drop in growth at -6.7 per cent. Melbourne (+0.25 per cent) and the ACT (+0.2 per cent) followed in Adelaide’s footsteps to record the highest monthly growth in April.

However, Queensland (+0.49 per cent) and South Australia (+0.48 per cent) were the top performing housing markets for the month, with New South Wales (+0.24 per cent) and Victoria (0.22 per cent) recording modest rises and Western Australia (-0.11 per cent), Tasmania (-0.04 per cent) and the Northern Territory (-0.08 per cent) all entering negative territory.

“While national home prices rose in April, the rate of growth has slowed compared to the first three months of the year. Should interest rates fall in May, we may see the rate of growth pick up again as borrowing capacities
increase and mortgage repayments decline,” Anne Flaherty, REA Group’s Senior Economist and author of the report, said.

“The rate of price growth is moderating in outperforming cities such as Perth, Adelaide and Brisbane, while underperformers such as Melbourne, Canberra, and Sydney have started to pick up. This is lessening the divergence in home price growth seen across the country over the past year.”

The data also indicated that while houses (+0.24 per cent) recorded stronger national growth than units (+0 per cent) over the month of April, annual unit growth did overtake in regional areas (5.34 per cent compared to 4.49 per cent for houses).

“With housing affordability a key issue at the upcoming federal election, both Labor and the Coalition have announced policy incentives for first home buyers. As a result, many of these buyers may be biding their time to
get into the market after the election and the launch of these policies,” Flaherty said.

“Whichever party is elected, the combination of increased first home buyer incentives, lower interest rates, and supply side challenges are expected to contribute to even higher property prices in 2025.”