Home value decline breaks annual record

CoreLogic has reported the largest annual decline on record for national dwelling values at -7.9 per cent lower over the past 12 months, despite the monthly pace of decline starting to slow in February.

This comes as the combined value of Australian residential real estate climbed by $100,000 to $9.3 trillion at the end of February but still sat well below the peak of $10 trillion in April 2022.

Sydney saw the lowest shift in home values in the last year falling by -13.4 per cent, while regional South Australia experienced the highest annual growth rate at 13.2 per cent.

With buyer interest and demand easing, it came as no surprise that volume of sales continued its muted growth, down -21.2 per cent compared to February the previous year. Falling buyer sentiment was also reflected in the lengthening median number of days properties spend on the market, rising to 41 in the December 2022 to February 2023 quarter.

This was also shown in the decline of first home buyer finance values throughout January by -4.9 per cent, only accounting for 22.8 per cent of owner-occupier finance in that month. Already sitting below the decade average of 23.7 per cent, monthly first home buyer finance dropped by 28.5 per cent from April 2022 to January 2023.

CoreLogic’s data also showed the impact of the ongoing rental crisis, with unit rents across increasing the most by around 14 to 17 per cent in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane.