Australia's housing market is experiencing its first downturn in almost two years, with national average property prices dipping slightly in December. While analysts predict stabilization in early 2025, price disparities between cities remain significant, and affordability challenges persist.
Property prices at a national average level dropped in December, which is the first time this has happened in almost two years. Yet there is still great price divergence between cities, and years of soaring prices have left home ownership out of reach for many.Analysts predict property prices will continue to stabilise in early 2025 but could rise again if the Reserve Bank cuts interest rates as predicted in May.
Australia's housing market is in a downturn for the first time in almost two years, after the average national price of a property sold dipped slightly in December. The data from CoreLogic shows the median value of property sold in the last month of 2024 was just shy of $815,000 after a price drop of 0.1 per cent. 'It really does set the scene for a soft start to 2025,' CoreLogic's chief economist Tim Lawless said.Australia's biggest cities are dragging down the national average.On the flip side, prices are still soaring in smaller capitals Perth and Adelaide, with the City of Churches now the country's third most expensive capital with a median price of almost $815,000. There is also differences between the price of apartments and standalone homes, with units going up 3.6 per cent in value overall in 2024 versus homes rising by 5.2 per cent. 'The rate of growth is slowing down pretty much everywhere, but there's still a lot of variance and variability in the statistics,' Mr Lawless added.Property prices nationally rose almost 5 per cent overall in 2024, despite the Reserve Bank of Australia keeping interest rates at their highest level in a decade, with the cash rate at 4.35 per cent.'Affordability is becoming a lot more challenging — home loan borrowing capacity has come right down amid high interest rates,' he said. Mark and Candace D'Souza are self-funded retirees who recently sold an investment apartment in Sydney's blue chip suburb Potts Poin
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