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The Domain Quarterly House Price Report for June 2022 shows house prices have fallen for the first time in two years, to a median price of $1.065 million.
Momentum has slowed throughout the market over the last quarter, with the annual pace of house and unit price growth easing across all combined capitals, apart from units in Adelaide.
Prices are now 0.9% below last quarter’s record high and annual growth is at its slowest rate since March 2021, sitting at 10.9%.
The report also revealed unit prices across the combined capitals have outperformed house prices for the first time in almost three years.
Despite being 0.6% below the December 2021 price peak, unit prices are 2% higher annually.
This stronger performance comes off the back of a boom for houses during the pandemic, where prices rose 34% from trough to peak, while unit prices rose just 10%.
Domain Chief of Research and Economics Dr Nicola Powell said the changing market dynamics across capitals is being driven by a rebalancing of supply and demand, weighing on overall buyer sentiment.
“These quarterly statistics reveal that affordability constraints, reduced borrowing capacity and the relative underperformance and perceived value units offer will help steer buyer demand to affordable options, likely to be both units and entry-priced houses,” Dr Powell said.
“Some Australian households, and prospective buyers, are much more sensitive to higher interest rates and strong inflation levels due to the high level of debt being carried, ultimately eroding savings.
“We are seeing some Australians being placed in a financially vulnerable position, particularly in areas with a higher purchase price, such as Sydney and Melbourne.”
The market breakdown in each capital city
The housing markets in Australia’s capital cities are operating at two speeds, Sydney and Melbourne have been identified as being the weakest.
Meanwhile, Brisbane and Adelaide remain the strongest, and are the only cities to have record high house and unit prices.
Sydney
House prices declined for the first time in two years to provide the steepest quarterly drop since March 2019.
Prices are now 2.7% below the March 2022 price peak, with annual growth at the slowest rate since December 2020.
In contrast, the pace of decline for unit prices has been relatively moderate despite falling for the second consecutive quarter, with prices declining 0.6% to $790,983, stalling the annual growth rate to 0.4%.
The impact of affordability constraints, inflation and reduced borrowing capacity became particularly evident in Sydney over the June quarter, with a significant acceleration in house price falls which are dropping almost five times faster than unit prices.
According to Domain Home Loan data, cash rate hikes have added around $726 a month to a $1 million home loan, further affecting buyer sentiment.
Melbourne
The slowdown in Melbourne continued as house prices slipped 0.9% over the quarter to $1.07 million.
This signalled the first back-to-back quarterly decline since the 2018-19 downturn.
Unit prices outperformed houses for the first time in two years, increasing 0.4% to $579,532, 1.4% higher than the same time last year.
Brisbane
House prices in Brisbane hit another new record high of $840,594 after rising 0.2% over the quarter and 24.7% over the year.
The pace of price growth has slowed however, suggesting the strongest upswing in 18 years has begun to lose momentum.
Unit prices rose 1.4% to reach another new record high, at $448,383, with the pace also slowing.
Adelaide
Adelaide is the fastest-growing capital city market in Australia over the 2021-22 financial year.
House prices jumped 27.4%, adding around $170,000 to reach a new record high of $793,220.
Over the June quarter, house prices increased for the eighth consecutive quarter by 3.6% to a new record high of $793,220.
Unit prices also reached a new record high of $398,921, a 4% increase over the quarter.
Domain data shows that momentum in Adelaide’s house price upswing has eased, with growth roughly half that seen in the previous quarter and same time last year.
Perth
Perth house prices rose 1.4% over the quarter reaching a new record high of $651,956.
However, unit prices declined for a second quarter by 1.1% to $356,904, the steepest annual fall in three years at 5.9%.
The median house price is now 83% higher than the median unit price, which makes Perth the most affordable city to purchase a unit – a title recouped in 2022 for the first time in 20 years.
Canberra
Canberra’s housing market is continuing to rise, house prices increased 1.8% to $1.15 million and unit prices jumped 4.4% to a new record high of $599,735.
For the first time since 2012, Canberra is the second most expensive capital city to purchase a unit. It still remains the second most expensive city to purchase a house.
Hobart
Hobart’s housing market was four times slower over the June quarter than the previous
Prices rose 0.8% for houses, while unit prices increased 0.5% over the quarter to $555,884.
Annual growth has lost momentum, providing the slowest pace in 15 months for houses and 12 months for units, at 21% and 13.6% respectively.
This data suggests that Hobart’s housing market has moved through its peak growth rate in 2021.
Darwin
Darwin house and unit prices were on the rise again, although it is unlikely to be a sign of momentum building.
House prices increased 0.3% over the quarter to $632,071, 3.6% higher than the same time last year.
Unit prices also rose 3% over the quarter to $390,265, up 22.5% annually.
Image by Maximillian Conacher via Unsplash
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