Australia’s property market has split in two, with Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide and Darwin continuing to record strong annual growth as values fall in Sydney and Melbourne.
The latest Cotality data showed national home values fell 1.9 per cent over the three months to July, led by declines across the capital cities.
But the national downturn is hiding vastly different conditions across the country.
The strongest-performing capitals over the past year were:
Perth, up 20.5 per cent
Darwin, up 16.3 per cent
Brisbane, up 14.8 per cent
Adelaide, up 10.5 per cent
By comparison, values fell 2.8 per cent in Melbourne and 2 per cent in Sydney.
Brisbane remains just 0.7 per cent below the record high reached in May, despite recording a modest decline over the past quarter.
The figures show Sydney and Melbourne are in a different stage of the property cycle to the mid-sized capitals, which have only recently begun to slow after years of exceptional growth.
Capital city listings are 22.6 per cent higher than a year ago, homes are taking longer to sell, and vendors are offering larger discounts.
But the recent slowdown has done little to erase the substantial gains recorded in Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide.
Rather than a collapse, the figures point to several of Australia’s strongest property markets beginning to return to more normal conditions.
Place Bulimba partner and lead agent, Paula Pearce, said properties that are well-located and correctly priced were still attracting strong interest, but sellers could no longer rely on rapid market growth to deliver a premium result.
Recent interest rate announcements and the Federal Budget have also given buyers greater certainty, while renewed investor interest is likely to be contributing to competition for properties with strong rental appeal.
The latest figures show Australia isn’t experiencing one uniform downturn.
While Sydney and Melbourne values are lower than they were a year ago, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide and Darwin continue to hold substantial gains.
For the country’s strongest-performing cities, the downturn looks more like a return to normal.
