The city’s home values tracked in line with the national average in February, with a modest drop of 0.1 per cent.
Perth’s home values dropped slightly in February, tracking in line with national data that showed a deceleration in the rate of house price decline.
CoreLogic’s latest analysis of house prices shows Perth’s home value index dropped by 0.1 per cent in February, in line with the national fall of 0.14 per cent over the month.
However, Perth’s median house price lifted in February, to $561,740, up from $559,971 the previous month.
Hobart showed the highest drop in its home value index in February, dipping by 1.4 per cent with a median of $658,470, followed by Canberra with a 0.5 per cent reduction and Melbourne with a 0.3 dip.
Sydney’s median dwelling value remains the highest in the nation, at $1,006,923, with that city’s home value index lifting by 0.3 per cent.
Nationally, median dwelling values fell to $702,136, from $708,613 in January.
CoreLogic research director Tim Lawless said the stabilisation in housing values coincided with a low supply of housing stock and a rise in auction clearance rates.
“The past four weeks have seen the flow of new capital city listings tracking 17 per cent lower than a year ago and 11.9 per cent below the previous five-year average,” he said.
“This trend towards a below average flow of new listings has been evident since September last year, coinciding with a loss of momentum in the rate of value decline.”
However, given recent successive interest rate rises, Mr Lawless said this reprieve might not last long.
“Considering the RBA’s move to a more hawkish stance at the February board meeting, along with an expectation for a weaker economic performance and a loosening in labour markets, there is a good chance this reprieve in the housing downturn could be short-lived,” Mr Lawless said.
“We also have the fixed-rate cliff ahead of us; arguably the full impact of the aggressive rate hiking cycle is yet to play out.”
Analysis from REA Group’s PropTrack recorded a 0.13 per cent increase in Perth’s home value index, to $565,000 in February.
The group said low stock availability and sustained buyer demand had insulated home prices in Perth.
