By Michael Yardney April 14, 2025

A A A

87 View comments

This week’s Australian Property Market Update – Latest Data, State by State April 15th 2025

Property Market News
This week’s Australian Property Market Update – Latest Data, State by State April 15th 2025

Key takeaways

Things got interesting on the housing front over the weekend.

We’ve been hearing a lot of talk about housing affordability lately, but now it’s heating up with some bold new ideas being floated by the major political parties.

There’s talk by the Coalition of making owner-occupier loans tax-deductible for first home buyers of new properties (which would be a game-changer), and Labor allowing first time buyers to purchase homes with just a 5% deposit on properties worth up to $1.5 million.

Add to that shared equity schemes, and you’ve got a bit of a government-led property buying buffet.

This week, CoreLogic Research reports that:

*Sydney property prices increased 0.1% over the last week, increased 0.3% over the last month and are 0.9% higher than they were 12 months ago.

*Melbourne property prices increased 0.1% over the last week, increased 0.6% over the last month, and are -2.4% lower compared to 12 months ago.

*Brisbane property prices remained flat over the last week, increased 0.3% over the last month and are 8.1% higher than they were 12 months ago.

Overall, Australian capital dwelling prices increased 0.4% over the last month and are now 2.8% higher than they were 12 months ago.

There were 3,146 homes taken to auction across the combined capitals last week, the highest count since the week prior to Easter last year (3,519).

At 64.8%, last week’s preliminary clearance rate was 5.9 percentage points lower than the previous week

This current property cycle has been driven by an undersupply of good properties relative to current demand pushing up property values and rents there was nothing to suggest there will be any significant change in the near future.

Unfortunately, the undersupply properties is going to persist for some time with all commentators agreeing that there is no way we're going to hit the housing construction targets required to meet our demand.

Things got interesting on the housing front over the weekend.

We’ve been hearing a lot of talk about housing affordability lately, but now it’s heating up with some bold new ideas being floated by the major political parties.

Add to that shared equity schemes, and you’ve got a bit of a government-led property buying buffet.

But here’s the rub—while we keep hearing about plans to boost housing supply by encouraging new construction, cutting red tape, and offering development incentives, those ideas are still mostly wishful thinking.

Developers are struggling to make the numbers work right now. The costs are too high, demand isn’t where it needs to be, and the current market just doesn’t support large-scale building the way we need.

However if our future government rolls out all these pro-property ownership policies, they’re likely to push prices even higher.

Then after Trumps Tarrific proposals, markets are now pricing in interest rates dropping to around 2.8% by December 2025.

That’s about 1.5% lower than where they are now

Bottom line? We’re looking at a market that could move sharply, and fast.

If you’re in a position to act, doing so before all these changes really kick in could be the difference between riding the wave and getting swamped by it.

On the auction front...There were 3,146 homes taken to auction across the combined capitals last week, the highest count since the week prior to Easter last year (3,519).

At 64.8%, last week’s preliminary clearance rate was 5.9 percentage points lower than the previous week

According to CoreLogic, preliminary clearance rate drops to lowest level so far this year

See Corelogic's full auction report below.

This week, CoreLogic also reports that:

Sydney property prices increased 0.1% over the last week, increased 0.3% over the last month and are 0.9% higher than they were 12 months ago.
Melbourne property prices increased 0.1% over the last week, increased 0.6% over the last month, and are -2.4% lower compared to 12 months ago.

Brisbane property prices remained flat over the last week, increased 0.3% over the last month and are 8.1% higher than they were 12 months ago.

Overall, Australian capital dwelling prices increased 0.4% over the last month and are now 2.8% higher than they were 12 months ago.

Clearly, the property cycle is moving on but our markets are very fragmented.

Source: CoreLogic April 14th 2025

Of course, these are "overall" figures - there is not one Sydney or Melbourne or Brisbane property market.

And various segments of each market are performing differently.

At the beginning of this cycle the upper quartile of the market lead the upswing but last year the lower quartile across every capital city recorded a stronger outcome for housing values relative to its upper quartile counterpart.

The following chart shows how various segments of each capital city market are performing differently with median-priced properties performing well.

To help keep you up-to-date with all that's happening in property, here is my updated weekly analysis of data and charts as of 14th April 2025 provided by SQM Research, CoreLogic, and realestate.com.au.

Current property asking prices

Property asking prices are a useful leading indicator for housing markets - giving a good indication of what's ahead.

Here is the latest data available:

Sydney

Property type	Price ($)	Weekly Change	Monthly Change %	Annual % change
All Houses	2,002.321	4.079	0.7%	5.1%
All Units	848,056	4.043	0.7%	7.1%
Combined	1,533,192	3.824	0.7%	5.3%

Source: SQM Research

Melbourne

Property type	Price ($)	Weekly Change	Monthly Change %	Annual % change
All Houses	1,267,132	2.735	0.4%	0.4%
All Units	626,099	2.701	1.1%	3.3%
Combined	1,064,933	2.605	0.5%	0.8%

Source: SQM Research

Brisbane

Property type	Price ($)	Weekly Change	Monthly Change %	Annual % change
All Houses	1,219,992	3.288	1.1%	13.1%
All Units	721.483	8.117	2.7%	20.8%
Combined	1,094,886	4.409	1.4%	14.2%

Source: SQM Research

Perth

Property type	Price ($)	Weekly Change	Monthly Change %	Annual % change
All Houses	1,120,839	0.949	1.3%	15.4%
All Units	655,423	3.452	3.4%	29.3%
Combined	998,991	1.566	1.6%	17.4%

Source: SQM Research

Adelaide

Property type	Price ($)	Weekly Change	Monthly Change %	Annual % change
All Houses	1,016,501	0.013	-0.5%	15.1%
All Units	535,417	-1.417	0.0%	19.7%
Combined	930,017	-0.260	-0.4%	15.5%

Source: SQM Research

Canberra

Property type	Price ($)	Weekly Change	Monthly Change %	Annual % change
All Houses	1,161,167	-3.667	-2.5%	-1.4%
All Units	601,868	3.244	1.1%	0.9%
Combined	953,548	-1.500	-1.7%	-1.4%

Source: SQM Research

Darwin

Property type	Price ($)	Weekly Change	Monthly Change %	Annual % change
All Houses	753,949	18.851	3.6%	12.5%
All Units	403,483	2.767	1.6%	8.7%
Combined	616.334	12.512	3.1%	11.5%

Source: SQM Research

Hobart

Property type	Price ($)	Weekly Change	Monthly Change %	Annual % change
All Houses	833.310	10.508	2.1%	4.9%
All Units	502.569	-1.969	0.2%	0.2%
Combined	783,024	8.578	1.9%	4.3%

Source: SQM Research

National

Property type	Price ($)	Weekly Change	Monthly Change %	Annual % change
All Houses	978,408	4.315	0.7%	6.7%
All Units	581,397	1.839	0.7%	7.9%
Combined	892,686	3.721	0.7%	6.8%

Source: SQM Research

Cap City Average

Property type	Price ($)	Weekly Change	Monthly Change %	Annual % change
All Houses	1,448,426	8.511	0.4%	6.3%
All Units	734,249	5.685	1.2%	9.7%
Combined	1,236,132	7.502	0.5%	6.7%

Source: SQM Research

The value of property asking prices as a leading indicator for housing markets is quite significant.

In fact it's more valuable than median prices which can be quite misleading.

Let's delve into why this is the case and how it impacts the real estate market.

Early Market Sentiment Indicator: Asking prices often reflect the current sentiment of sellers in the real estate market.

If sellers are confident, they might set higher asking prices, anticipating strong demand.
Conversely, if sellers are uncertain or perceive a market downturn, they might lower their asking prices to attract buyers.
This makes asking prices a real-time indicator of market sentiment, often preceding changes in actual sales prices.
Predictive of Future Price Trends: Trends in asking prices can be predictive of where the actual property prices are headed.
For example, a consistent rise in asking prices over a period can signal an upcoming rise in transaction prices.
Impact of Economic Factors: Economic factors such as interest rates, employment rates, and broader economic health influence asking prices.
For instance, changes in the Reserve Bank of Australia's policies or shifts in the job market can quickly reflect in the asking prices, providing insights into how these factors are influencing the housing market.
Regional Variations: In a diverse market like Australia's, asking prices can also provide insights into regional disparities.
For instance, the property markets in Melbourne and Sydney might behave differently from those in Brisbane or Perth. Asking prices can give early indications of these regional trends.
Influence of Supply and Demand: Asking prices are also a response to the balance of supply and demand in the market.
In areas with limited supply and high demand, asking prices tend to be higher and vice versa.

However, it's important to note that while asking prices are a valuable indicator, they should not be used in isolation.

Other factors like actual sales prices, time on the market, auction clearance rates, and economic conditions also play crucial roles in understanding the property market dynamics.

Last weekend's auction report

Preliminary clearance rate drops to lowest level so far this year

The week ahead of the Easter long weekend is always an active one for auction markets, and this year was no exception.

3,146 homes were taken to auction across the combined capitals last week, the highest count since the week prior to Easter last year (3,519).

The high volume of auctions collided with a drop in confidence amid the tariff-related ructions and share market volatility, sending the preliminary clearance rate to its lowest level so far this year (excluding January results which tend to be volatile due to low volume).

At 64.8%, last week’s preliminary clearance rate was 5.9 percentage points lower than the previous week (70.7%, revising down to 61.8% on final numbers).

Melbourne hosted the most auctions, with 1,424 homes going under the hammer, which was well down on 2024’s pre-Easter volume (1,760).

In fact, we saw a higher volume of Melbourne auctions in the last week of February 2025 (1,437) and the last week of October 2024 (1,675).

The preliminary clearance rate came in at 67.0%, a sharp drop from the 72.9% result recorded a week earlier (revised down to 64.1% on final numbers).

With 1,307 auctions held, this was Sydney’s biggest week of auctions since the week prior to Easter 2022 (1,490).

Demand from purchasers didn’t keep pace, with 65.5% of auctions recording a successful result so far, down from 69.1% the previous week (revised down to 59.9% on final numbers).

Adelaide hosted the most auctions across the smaller capitals, with 157 homes going under the hammer last week (highest so far this year).

The preliminary clearance rate fell to 62.1%, a sharp drop from the 87.8% early clearance rate the previous week (70.1% once finalised).

Brisbane saw a muted pre-Easter auction market, with ‘only’ 135 auctions held across Brisbane last week (the second
lowest volume of auctions since the start of February).

The lower volume wasn’t enough to stave off a drop in the preliminary clearance rate, with 56.7% of auctions reporting a successful result so far, down from 58.3% the week prior (revising to 55.4% on final numbers).

In Perth, six of the 11 auctions have been reported so far, four of which were successful, while one of the two auctions held in Tasmania last week was sold.

The volume of auctions is set to fall sharply this week amid the Easter long weekend, with approximately 635 homes scheduled to go under the hammer, rising to around 1,050 next week.

Our rental markets

According to CoreLogic, rental values are also at record highs, with the national rental index up a further 0.6% in March, in line with the February increase, but well below the 1.0% increase seen this time last year.

Dwelling rents rose across every capital city in March, led by a 1.2% lift in Hobart, while Melbourne recorded the smallest monthly rent rise, up just 0.3%.

In annual terms, rental growth is clearly slowing, easing from a cyclical peak of 9.7% over the 12 months ending November 2021 to 3.8% over the past 12 months- the slowest annual change in rents since March 2021.