Perth home prices slip again

Perth dwelling values fell 1 per cent in January as Australia’s combined capital cities showed a 0.9 per cent rise, with the local market expected to remain soft this year.

Perth home values fell to a median of $515,000 in January, according to the latest CoreLogic RP Data, however it’s a 1.7 per cent improvement for the three months to the end of January.

That said, Perth recorded the largest annual decline in home values, down 4.1 per cent year on year.

CoreLogic head of research Tim Lawless said the national month-on-month rise wasn’t quite enough to pull the rolling quarterly rate of growth back into the black, with capital city dwelling values remaining 0.6 per cent lower over the past three months.

“Hobart led the monthly figures with a 4.7 per cent jump in sales, followed by Melbourne where values were 2.5 per cent higher and Canberra with a 2.8 per cent lift,” Mr Lawless said.

“Sydney values also showed a rise of 0.5 per cent, while the remaining four capital cities showed dwelling values to be either flat or down.”

Perth and Darwin dragged the broader capital cities’ rental indicators down, with weekly rents down 8.6 in Perth and 13.4 per cent lower in Darwin.

“The bounce in dwelling values in January may provide an early sign that housing values across the combined capital cities are not likely to experience material decreases in 2016,” Mr Lawless said.

“We believe that the rate of capital gain across the combined capitals in 2016 is likely to be less than the 7.8 per cent experienced in 2015, driven by a slowdown in Sydney and Melbourne and continued softness in the Perth and Darwin markets.”