Property values
2017 kicked off with continued growth in house prices according to CoreLogic’s Home Value Index.
Combined capital city dwelling values increased by 0.7 per cent in January and as a result, values are 10.7 per cent higher than this time last year.
Over the three months to January, it was Hobart which surprising led the capital cities in terms of the greatest increase in values. Tasmania’s capital saw dwelling values increase by 5.8 per cent, reaching a median dwelling price of $366,000.
Sydney and Melbourne continue to be consistent performers in terms of dwelling price growth. Over the three months to January values rose by 2.7 and 2.4 per cent respectively in these cities. The current median dwelling price for Sydney is $850,000 while in Melbourne it sits at $640,000.
Darwin was the only capital city where dwelling values experienced a fall, declining by 1.7 per cent during the month of January to a median dwelling price of $490,000.
Residential property listings
The latest data from SQM Research indicates that the number of residential property listings available fell during the month of January.
According to the report, the biggest drop was experienced in Sydney and Melbourne, where listings declined 6.6 and 12.3 per cent during the month respectively.
Nationally, there was a 3.0 per cent decrease in the number of residential properties listed.
The only capital city which experienced an increase in listings over January was Darwin, with a 1.5 per cent increase.
Auction clearance rates
Despite the slowdown in residential property listings reported by SQM Research, the latest CoreLogic auction clearance rates indicate that the market will gather momentum after the seasonal holiday slowdown.
Already there has been an increase in the number of auctions across the capital cities over the past week, with 867 auctions reported for the week ending the 5th of January compared with just 368 auctions during the previous week.
From the 867 auctions tracked, CoreLogic reported a preliminary clearance rate of 70.8 per cent, down slight from the 71.6 per cent recorded for the last week of January.
Rental rates
Figures from the latest SQM Research Weekly Rental Index for the week ending the 4th of February show that over the month of January weekly rents for houses decreased by 1.4 per cent whilst weekly rents for units increased by 0.3 per cent.
Of the capital cities, Canberra and Hobart led the way with the most significant increases in weekly rents for houses and units. Canberra experienced a 2.2 per cent increase in house rents and a 0.4 per cent increase in unit rents while Hobart saw a 2.3 per cent increase in house rents and a 0.7 per cent increase in unit rents over the month.
Asking rents for Sydney houses increased by 0.2 per cent over January. However, the New South Wales capital city also saw a decline in asking rents for units of 0.2 per cent.
No other capital cities experienced a decrease in weekly rents during the month. However, the asking rents for Darwin, Brisbane and Adelaide units experienced no changes when compared with the previous month.
Rental vacancies
The most noteworthy news regarding vacancy rates reported recently were figures reported by the Property Council of Australia.
According to the Property Council’s Office Market Report, there was a slight lift in office vacancy rates from 10.5 to 10.4 per cent.
The Australian Central Business District (CBD) office vacancy rate has remained steady over the six months to January 2017, falling from 11.0 per cent to 10.9 per cent.
Demand for office space has been strong in all capital cities and particularly in Brisbane, where the Property Council reported that office space in the city CBD is now more than five times higher than historical levels.
The Sunshine Coast and the Gold Coast office markets have also recorded sharp declines in vacancies, with the two cities now sitting at 6.9 and 12.2 per cent office vacancy respectively.
Sydney and Melbourne CBD’s continue to demonstrate a strong office market performance, with vacancy rates of 6.2 and 6.4 per cent respectively.
Building approvals
The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) released the latest buildings approvals data for December 2016 in February.
According to the report there were 17,327 dwellings approved in December, a fall in approvals of 1.2 per cent when compared with the previous month in seasonally adjusted terms.
The drop follows a 7.5 per cent jump in approvals reported in November and the numbers of dwellings approved is 11.4 per cent lower than the same time one year ago.
Finance and interest rates
At the first board meeting of the year by the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) it was decided to leave rates on hold at 1.5 per cent.
The decision was widely anticipated after all seventy two Economists surveyed by Reuters indicated they expected the cash rate to stay put.
Despite record low interest rates, property investors may continue to face difficulties with new loan applications and requests to refinance. Just yesterday Commonwealth Bank subsidiary, Bankwest, announced it has again tightened their lending policies for property investors.