According to the February 2016 CoreLogic RP Data Hedonic Home Value Index results released today, dwelling values across Australia’s combined capital cities showed a 0.5% rise in February, pushing dwelling values 1.4% higher over the past three months.
In February, home values rose across each capital city with the exclusion of Perth and Canberra. Over the past three months, dwelling values have increased across all capitals except Sydney (-0.2%). The largest monthly increases in home values were recorded in the cities that have been underperforming over the growth cycle to date; Hobart dwelling values were 2.9% higher, Adelaide showed a 1.9% rise, and Brisbane home values increased by 1.8%. Perth and Canberra were the only cities to record a monthly fall in values, down -1.1% and -0.2% respectively.
Index results as at February 29, 2016
Sydney was the only capital city to have recorded a fall in dwelling values over the past three months, down -0.2%. The cities to record the greatest value rises over the past three months have been: Hobart (8.5%), Melbourne (3.8%) and Brisbane (2.0%). According to CoreLogic RP Data head of research Tim Lawless, “Even though home values have trended lower over the year in Perth and Darwin, they have recorded value rises of 0.2% and 0.3% respectively over the past three months.”
Dwelling values are still increasing across most capital cities however, the results remain diverse. Sydney and Melbourne remain the strongest markets in trend terms, however, the gap is widening between the performances of Melbourne relative to Sydney.
Over the past 12 months, combined capital city home values have increased by 7.6%, with the annual rate of growth down from a recent peak of 11.1% recorded in July last year. Melbourne has maintained its number one growth position, with annual capital gains of 11.1%. Mr Lawless said, “Melbourne values appear to be holding reasonably firm since December last year with the annual rate of capital gain virtually level over the past three months.”
Sydney’s annual rate of growth has continued to moderate, having almost halved from its cyclical peak of 18.4% recorded in July last year to reach 9.5% growth over the past twelve months. Despite the slowing trend, Sydney remains the second best performing capital city over the past twelve months, however, Mr Lawless said, “a few of the smaller cities, where growth rates have recently accelerated, may start to rival Sydney’s position over the coming months.”
“The trend in home value growth is showing signs of increasing in those markets that have previously underperformed. These include Brisbane, Adelaide, Hobart and Canberra. Affordability constraints aren’t as apparent in these cities and rental yields haven’t been compressed to the same extent as what they have in Melbourne or Sydney. Home values increased in Brisbane by 5.5% over the past year, which is the fastest annual rate of value growth in a year. In Hobart, home values are 6.2% higher over the year, which is its fastest annual rate of home value growth since July 2010,” Mr Lawless said.
