House prices in Australia have continued to rise and have grown by more than 20 percent compared to last year, the fastest pace since mid-1989. And while CoreLogic’s national home value index rose by 1.5 percent in September, this is just over half the rate in March.

According to Research Director Tim Lawless of CoreLogic, the slowing growth conditions are caused by higher barriers to entry for non-homeowners and fewer government incentives to enter the market. Despite rising housing values, household income has remained the same, which results in potential buyers having difficulty in raising money for deposits.

Lawless stated that existing homeowners looking to update, downsize or move homes are less impacted than potential new homeowners as they have the benefit of accrued equity as housing values surged.

Despite the worsening affordability, house values are still rising faster that unit values – a trend which has been evident throughout most of the COVID pandemic, especially across capital cities.

CoreLogic National Homes Value Index For September

(month, annual)

National – up 1.5 per cent per cent, up 20.3 per cent

Sydney – up 1.9 per cent per cent, up 23.6 per cent

Melbourne – up 0.8 per cent, up 15.0 per cent

Brisbane – up 1.8 per cent, up 19.9 per cent

Adelaide – up 1.9 per cent, up 19.1 per cent

Perth – up 0.3 per cent, up 18.1 per cent

Hobart – up 2.3 per cent, up 26.8 per cent

Darwin – up 0.1 per cent, up 20.2 per cent

Canberra – up 2.0 per cent, up 24.4 per cent

Combined capitals – up 1.5 per cent, up 19.5 per cent

Combined regional – up 1.7 per cent, up 23.1 per cent

Source: Link

Date of Publication: 01 October 2021