The property boom seems to be slowing down. Well, at least in Sydney and Melbourne – house prices in the rest of Australia are still rising.
After Sydney and Melbourne house prices dropped for the first time in nearly three years in February, the property market has stalled again in March, giving hope to many young Australians.
Speaking to the ABC, CoreLogic’s research director, Tim Lawless, said, “It does look like the boom is over in both of those cities.”
“In fact, we are now seeing those markets either right at the top of their cycle and about to start to move into a consistent downturn, or potentially already moving into a downturn,” Lawless explained.
But it’s not all affordable housing and sunshine, because prices rose in pretty much every other Australian city last month, with Adelaide and Brisbane feeling the biggest effects.
Prices in Adelaide shot up by 1.9 per cent, while Brisbane prices rose by a nicely-rounded 2 per cent, and regional areas were hit by a 1.7 per cent increase. The national average property price also saw a 0.7 per cent increase, rising to $738,975.
On a more positive note, Melbourne house prices fell by 0.1 per cent in March, and Sydney 0.2. So now first home-buyers just need to shell out 1.6 million for a two bedroom house rather than 1.8 million.
So how much does the average house cost in each capital city?
Sydney – $1,116,889
Melbourne – $805,232
Brisbane – $749,293
Adelaide – $602,717
Perth – $542,338
Hobart – $731,849
Darwin – $494,635
Canberra – $932,704
So even with the recent drop in Sydney and Melbourne, houses are still disgustingly expensive. But no worries Scotty, we’ll just go and drop $1.1 million on an average home to avoid paying rent.