11 Mar 2019

Property downturn real but overhyped, a new report shows

If you are wondering whether your property will rise or fall in value over the next 12 months, a new realestate.com.au report has some tentative good news.

The leading property search site’s Property Outlook Report, released today, suggests Australia’s housing downturn has been over-hyped by many media commentators and property data companies.

The report concedes Australia is “now in the midst of a housing downturn”, but the declines are “not as bad as widely reported” and “not as pronounced as first thought”.

The downturn is largely affecting the Sydney and Melbourne markets, which have dropped 1.48 per cent and 5.93 per cent according to realestate.com.au — less than the figures provided by some other real estate data companies.

Adelaide, meanwhile, continues to buck the downturn trend, with realestate.com.au showing a 1.1 per cent rise in property prices over the past year.

Realesate.com.au now lists the City of Churches’ median property price at $437,511. Houses are at $465,000 (up 1.3 per cent on last year) while units stand at $340,000 (down 0.1 per cent).

Hobart, Canberra and Brisbane are also recording growth.

The report predicts prices will continue to drop in Sydney and Melbourne in the next six months, but the falls will not be as severe as what is widely being reported by other data sources.