The Australian property market is showing tentative signs of stabilising with a study pointing to a slight rebound in house prices for March 2008 after a February plunge.
Data from property analyst Residex has given mixed signals over the health of the Australian housing market; with house prices rising across metropolitan centres despite falling sales volumes and mortgage approvals.
Residex managing director John Edwards believes the market is in a holding pattern after earlier rate shocks.
“March figures suggest a more confident, if still somewhat cautious, mood has returned to the housing market.
“This is because purchasers who are equity rich, wealthy or property investors are largely unaffected by rate rises and, having dodged the bullets, march on regardless. Those hurt the most by successive rate rises take the hits and are left behind,” says Edwards.
The Residex data also showed that apartments were outperforming houses in major cities as strong rental growth encouraged investors to move into this sector.
Growth in median prices
|
City |
Median price (Mar-08) |
Monthly change |
Quarterly change |
|
ACT |
$458,000 |
-0.88% |
1.24% |
|
Adelaide |
$368,000 |
0.30% |
4.25% |
|
Brisbane |
$449,000 |
1.35% |
3.81% |
|
Darwin |
$411,500 |
1.87% |
3.25% |
|
Hobart |
$350,500 |
3.61% |
1.88% |
|
Melbourne |
$481,500 |
2.62% |
0.31% |
|
Perth |
$521,000 |
2.93% |
3.82% |
|
Sydney |
$584,000 |
1.09% |
-0.15% |
Source: Residex
Fall in sales volumes
|
City |
Sales volume (Mar-08 qtr) |
Sales volume (Dec-07 qtr) |
Change (qtr on qtr) |
|
ACT |
1142 |
1334 |
-14.39% |
|
Adelaide |
4557 |
5705 |
-20.12% |
|
Brisbane |
11,041 |
14,684 |
-24.81% |
|
Darwin |
464 |
559 |
-16.99% |
|
Hobart |
834 |
574 |
45.30% |
|
Melbourne |
14,032 |
14,476 |
-3.07% |
|
Perth |
7024 |
7246 |
-3.06% |
|
Sydney |
9657 |
11,897 |
-18.83% |
Source: Residex
Unit / apartment prices in Australia
|
City |
Price |
Change in March 08 |
|
ACT |
$357,500 |
-0.96% |
|
Adelaide |
$282,500 |
1.60% |
|
Brisbane |
$347,000 |
2.67% |
|
Darwin |
$314,500 |
0.00% |
|
Hobart |
$249,000 |
1.94% |
|
Melbourne |
$366,000 |
1.23% |
|
Perth |
$409,500 |
3.00% |
|
Sydney |
$402,000 |
0.87% |
Source: Residex
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