Should we or shouldn’t we?

There has been so much talk of late about interest rates and the global economy and what it means for the future of property prices.

But who’s right and what are the signs so far?

CoreLogic research for the month of September has uncovered the following trends and they come as little surprise to stakeholders and observers alike.

• The combined value of Australian residential real estate fell marginally in September.

• The monthly rate of decline slowed to -1.4% in September, from -1.6% through August.

• Dwelling values across Australia are 1.7% higher than they were this time last year but down significantly from the peak of 22.4% in January 2022.

• The lowest rate of change in values was across Sydney, down -6.0% over the year.

• Sales volumes are trending lower as buyer demand slows. CoreLogic estimates that in the 12 months to September sales were down -5.2% compared to the previous year.

• Properties are taking longer to sell. In the three months to September, the median days on market was 35.

• Vendor discounting has also increased to a median national level of -4.2%.

• While the volume of new listings has ticked up slightly, the flow of new listings is -14.3% lower than the previous five-year average.

• The combined capital cities clearance rate averaged 59.8%, down from 74.3% in the equivalent period of 2021.

• Annual rental growth across national dwellings held steady at 10.0%.

• Through September, Australian gross rent yields rose to 3.57%, up from a recent low of 3.21% in February this year.

• Through August, unit dwelling approvals virtually doubled on the previous month, taking total approvals 28.1% higher across houses and units.

• The RBA lifted rates to 2.60% in October. This takes the cash rate target slightly higher than the pre-COVID decade average, which was 2.55%.
  

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Published October 23, 2022

By Belinda Cassano