The median house in Sydney will now set you back almost $1.5 million, and for that budget, don’t expect to live very close to the CBD. In Melbourne, it’s nearly $1.04 million, and in Canberra, $1.07 million, the latest Domain House Price Report for the September quarter shows that house prices across the nation jumped 3.5 per cent in the September quarter to a new record of $994,579.
The frenzied bidding seen in autumn is largely over, but don’t expect to get a bargain – property prices look set to edge even higher from here.
The pace of growth is key. Early this year prices were rising at a super-fast pace as buyers took advantage of interest rate cuts to borrow more money and buy their first home or a bigger family home. The huge budgets in play at auctions sent prices soaring and left underbidders shocked.
Interest rates can’t go much lower, so don’t expect another similar boost to borrowing power. Indeed, the bank regulator recently trimmed the maximum amount buyers can borrow, although it’s a slight change that only affects the small number of people who borrow to the limit.
But with more buyers than sellers, expect prices to keep going up for now, just not at the same breakneck pace and not for every home.
That is, we’ve probably passed peak price growth, but we’re not yet at peak prices. Westpac expects property prices to rise 8 per cent during 2022 and finish the year flat, senior economist Matthew Hassan said.
Sydney
Sydney’s house prices have risen about $6700 per week over the past year, jumping a total of just over $349,000 to hit a record $1,499,126.
This equates to 30.4 per cent annual growth, which is the highest on record.
However, the city’s quarterly growth has slowed from a peak of 9.6 per cent in the March quarter to 4.6 per cent in the September quarter.
Sydney unit prices gained $18,695 in the September quarter to hit a record of $802,475.
Melbourne
Despite being in lockdown for much of the September quarter, house prices in Melbourne hit a record high of $1.038 million on the back of 16.8 per cent growth over the past year.
Melbourne has recorded the second lowest house price growth of all the capital cities since the start of the pandemic, which could mean there’s room for prices to rise further post-lockdown.
House prices climbed 1.6 per cent in the September quarter to $1,037,923, while units rose just 0.3 per cent to a record of $576,879.
Canberra
House prices in the nation’s capital have risen $720 a day over the past year, including a 5.7 per cent jump in the September quarter to soar to a record of $1.074 million.
Since the start of the pandemic, house prices have risen 38.4 per cent, which is the highest growth rate out of all the capital cities.
For the first time since 2005, Canberra is now the second most expensive capital city to buy a house in.
However, unit prices fell 2.9 per cent to $489,710 in the quarter.
Brisbane
Brisbane’s median house price passed the $700,000 mark for the first time, climbing $29,279 in the September quarter to hit a record $702,455.
However, unit prices slipped slightly, down 0.5 per cent, to $396,609, which is $19,411 down on 2016’s record.
Adelaide
Adelaide experienced its strongest annual price growth since 2008, with house prices hitting a record of $667,888 and unit prices increasing five per cent over the September quarter to a record of $357,615.
The number of homes for sale in September remained tight, dropping 28 per cent below the five-year average.
Darwin
Darwin house prices experienced the strongest annual growth since 2004 at 33.2 per cent, to sit at the highest median price in six years at $640,068.
That’s just more than $38,000 lower than the high reached in 2013, but it would only take two quarters, at the same growth rate, of 5.1 per cent, to surpass that.
Hobart
Hobart house prices jumped almost $67,000 in the September quarter to hit a record of $698,212.
Annually house prices are up 31.9 per cent which is the strongest growth in 17 years.
Unit prices have also climbed 23.8 per cent in the past year to hit a record $532,284.
Perth
Perth is the most affordable city to buy a house in with property prices falling in the September quarter for the first time in two years.
House prices fell 0.6 per cent to $598,601, while units fell 3.3 per cent to $363,653.
