Property values
For the month of September, a 1 per cent rise in home values was recorded according to the latest CoreLogic Hedonic Home Value Index.
Sydney remains the capital city with the highest median dwelling price, currently sitting at $785,000, followed by Melbourne with a median dwelling price of $590,000. Of the two cities, Melbourne experienced the most growth in dwelling values, increasing by 2.3 per cent. Sydney dwelling values increased by just 0.8 per cent, however the city has seen a massive 10.2 per cent growth year on year.
Of the capital cities, Canberra was the surprise package during September, outpacing both Sydney and Melbourne with an increase in dwelling values of 2.4 per cent during the month. The city has also experienced growth of 9 per cent over the past year. The median dwelling value for the city is currently sitting at $556,800.
Perth and Darwin continue to experience falls in median dwelling values, dropping -2.5 per cent and -2.2 per cent respectively over the month of September.
Rental vacancies
The latest figures from SQM Research have revealed that vacancy rates during August 2016 have dropped to 2.3 per cent from the previously reported 2.5 per cent recorded during July 2016.
All of the capital cities vacancy rates dropped during August, which helped to drive up rents particularly in Sydney and Melbourne where vacancy rates were below 2 per cent (sitting at 1.7 and 1.9 per cent respectively). The total number of vacancies across the country during August was 73,451.
Hobart was the capital city with the tightest vacancy rates during the month of August, sitting at just 0.5 per cent.
Rental rates
According to SQM Research’s weekly rental index, the asking rent for a three bedroom house in Sydney has jumped 4.8 per cent over the past twelve months to $713 per week.
Melbourne has also experienced a 3.4 per cent jump in rents over the past twelve months, with the average three bedroom house costing approximately $486 to rent per week.
Both cities experienced an increase in weekly rents for units of 4 and 4.5 per cent respectively.
Decreases in average rents for both houses and units were experienced by Perth and Darwin.
There was been a -9.8 per cent decrease in weekly rents for houses and -11.4 per cent for units in Perth over the past twelve months, which is due in part to the downturn of the mining sector.
Darwin has experienced a -1.5 per cent decrease in weekly rents for houses and a -5.5 per cent decrease in weekly rents for units over the past twelve months.
Building approvals
The Australian Bureau of Statistics released the latest building approvals data for August 2016 this week.
While the data showed that overall residential building approvals slowed during August, down by just -1.8 per cent, the number of approvals (20,788 dwellings) is 10.1 per cent higher than during the same month last year.
Of the 20,788 dwellings approved, 9,475 were houses and 11,313 were units. Units are continuing to prove to be popular as over the past year on more than seven occasions, there were more than seven months where dwelling approvals for residential units outpaced the number of dwellings approved for residential houses.
Finance and interest rates
More than fifty seven Economists polled by Reuters who expected the cash rate to remain on hold at 1.5 per cent were correct when the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) delivered their decision at the board meeting on Tuesday the 4th of October.
While continued low interest rates will help first home owners and property investors to enter the market, housing finance data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) released on the 9th of September suggests there has been a decrease of -1.8 per cent in the total value of mortgage lending.
During July the total value of mortgage lending was $31.8 billion according to the report, down from 32.4 billion during June and $33.2 billion when it peaked during April 2015.
Auction clearance rates
There was less stock available on the market for the final weekend of September as most recognised that potential home buyers and property investor’s focus would be on watching the results of the AFL and Rugby League grand finals.
However, of the 437 auctions reported in Sydney, there was a preliminary clearance rate of 83.8 per cent. In Melbourne, there were just 111 auctions held last weekend, the lowest recorded since the week ending January 24th 2016, and a preliminary clearance result of 92.8 per cent. This is the highest clearance rate Melbourne has recorded this year.
Brisbane recorded a preliminary clearance rate of 47.9 per cent from just seventy one auctions recorded and of the five auctions held in Tasmania this week, there was just one successful sale.