Over 80% of Aussie house and unit markets see a jump in value

Despite rising interest rates and weakening economic conditions, more than 80% (82.4%) of Australian house and unit markets saw a growth in value during the third quarter, but capital city markets were still running at very different ‘speeds’, according to CoreLogic “Mapping the Market Report”.

Of more than 4,500 house and unit suburbs analysed nationally in the three months to October only 792 (17.6%) declined in value, with Perth being the strongest market while Hobart and Darwin running flat or falling.

CoreLogic’s head of research, Eliza Owen, noted that Australia was not ‘one housing market’ and there was increased diversity in capital city market performance.

“That’s reflected in city-wide growth rates, the various levels of supply that’s available in some cities over others, and it’s reflected in the different suburbs we analyse in this report,” she said.

While Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth were identified as cities that were running at high speed, the growth in value for dwellings across Sydney and Melbourne was closer to ‘mid-speed’ and Hobart and Darwin saw 41% of their house markets declining during the same quarter.

In Brisbane, each of the 162 unit markets analysed saw values rise in the past three months, while of the 305 house markets, only four saw a quarterly decline. At the same time, in Adelaide, only 3% of house markets saw a decline in the quarter, but there was a notable portion of unit markets in decline (13.4%, or 9 of the 67 suburbs analysed) and Perth saw 98.1% of its house and unit markets to have risen in value.

On the other hand, Sydney and Melbourne saw a city-wide capital growth at 2.5% and 1.2%, respectively, in the past three months.

“The pace of growth across both markets has slowed from the middle of the year, when the June rate-hike surprised financial markets and many economists’ predictions,” Owen said.

“Currently, growth in Sydney markets are strongest across relatively expensive house markets, with Five Dock houses topping the three-month capital growth ranking (up 8.4%). In Melbourne, it was the more mid-priced unit market of Moorabbin which topped the list, increasing 7.4%.”

“Canberra has also seen relatively flat capital growth trends, and particular weakness in the unit market. 32 of 39 unit markets analysed in Canberra saw a quarterly decline, with the steepest fall in O’Connor, down -4.1%,” she said.

Across regional markets, conditions are equally diverse, with Regional Queensland the strongest house market and Regional SA the best performing unit market.