Melbourne’s median house asking price reaches $1 million

Capital City asking prices rose 0.1% for houses and 0.3% for units for the month to 31 December.

The largest monthly rise came from Canberra, where house asking prices rose 3.0%.

Unit asking prices in Canberra also recorded the highest monthly growth at 1.1%.

Year-on-year asking house price gains were the strongest in Melbourne, with prices rising by 27.8%.

And Melbourne will continue its ongoing strength which is also reflected in the median house asking prices which has now reached A$1 million dollars.

Hobart recorded the strongest asking price gains for units, which were up 19.5% over the year.

Year-on-year prices fell in Darwin and Perth as the mining downturn continues to impact the property markets there but the cities are showing plenty of signs of an upturn.

SQM Research Weekly Asking Prices Index
Week ending: 2 Jan 2018		Asking Price	Chg on prev week	Rolling month % chg	12 mth % chg
Canberra	All Houses	802.9	2.8	3.0%	19.9%
Canberra	All Units	401.9	0.4	1.1%	8.2%
Sydney	All Houses	1,329.8	-1.7	-1.0%	3.7%
Sydney	All Units	708.0	2.2	0.2%	5.1%
Darwin	All Houses	601.6	-1.4	-0.5%	-3.2%
Darwin	All Units	409.6	0.2	0.1%	-6.6%
Brisbane	All Houses	614.1	-0.4	0.1%	2.4%
Brisbane	All Units	381.5	-0.4	-0.0%	0.9%
Adelaide	All Houses	526.2	2.0	1.3%	4.8%
Adelaide	All Units	302.1	0.9	0.5%	1.7%
Hobart	All Houses	489.9	0.3	0.1%	14.3%
Hobart	All Units	318.3	0.2	-0.7%	19.5%
Melbourne	All Houses	1,000.3	4.0	2.1%	27.8%
Melbourne	All Units	528.1	0.6	0.4%	15.0%
Perth	All Houses	672.3	0.2	-0.1%	-0.9%
Perth	All Units	390.0	-1.1	-1.2%	-7.9%
National	All Houses	567.8	-0.8	-1.2%	11.3%
National	All Units	374.5	0.6	0.4%	7.9%
Cap City Average	All Houses	961.9	2.4	0.1%	9.7%
Cap City Average	All Units	568.9	1.8	0.3%	6.4%

Source: www.sqmresearch.com.au

Fewer houses for sale

National residential listings declined in December 2017 by 4.6% to 319,192, with stock levels decreasing in all states as is expected during the festive and summer break.

This seasonality decline is typical as vendors withdraw advertising and inspections over Christmas and New Year.

The largest decline in listings occurred in Sydney, down 15.0%, followed by Canberra 13.4% and Melbourne 12.6% decreases.

Perth recorded the smallest decline at 3.4%.

City	December 2016 total	November 2017 total	December 2017 total	Monthly change %	Yearly change %
Adelaide	16,074	17,289	16,588	-4.1%	3.2%
Brisbane	29,116	31,738	30,040	-5.4%	3.2%
Canberra	3,209	4,071	3,527	-13.4%	9.9%
Darwin	2,007	2,168	2,055	-5.2%	2.4%
Hobart	3,390	2,451	2,426	-1.0%	-28.4%
Melbourne	32,205	33,070	28,895	-12.6%	-10.3%
Perth	26,706	26,158	25,277	-3.4%	-5.4%
Sydney	23,171	33,046	28,103	-15.0%	21.3%
National	333,959	334,594	319,192	-4.6%	-4.4%

Year-on-year results indicate that residential property listings are up for most capital cities with Sydney experiencing the largest yearly increase of 21.3%, with residential property listings increasing from 23,171 in December 2016 to 33,046 in December 2017.

Canberra follows with a yearly increase of sale listings of 9.9%, Adelaide and Brisbane both recorded a 3.2% year-on-year increase and Darwin’s increase was 2.4%.

In contrast, year-on-year results indicate that Hobart experienced an excessive yearly decline of 28.4%, with residential property listings dropping from 3,390 in December 2016 to 2,426 in December 2017.

Melbourne also experienced yearly decline of sale listings at 10.3% and Perth recorded a 5.4% decline.

December listings usually decline as the market slows during the Christmas and New Year break, so the results are expected.”

There is a significant year-on-year decrease in Hobart and the city’s leading housing indicators suggests more price rises are to come. Our forecast is for a 8-13% increase in prices in 2018.

Melbourne prices will continue to strengthen

Melbourne has a year-on-year decrease and we are still of the belief this is just a temporary stay and Melbourne will continue its ongoing strength which is also reflected in the median house asking prices which has now reached A$1 million dollars.

Sydney’s significant year-on-year increase indicates the city continues to have the highest level of listings since October 2012 but we predict there will be a modest slowdown in the Sydney housing market.

About Louis Christopher

Louis is recognised as one of Australia’s most respected and impartial research property analyst. He has extensive knowledge and experience of property and is regularly quoted in the media on his insights and is director of SQM Research.
Visit www.SQMResearch.com.au