Home prices fell in June quarter: ABS

House prices slipped in all but two capitals in the three months to June 30, but there have been rises since then.

A recent auction in Sydney. Picture: AAP

House prices fell 0.7 per cent through the June quarter despite a post-election surge in confidence, data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics shows.

Melbourne led the falls, recording a drop of 0.8 per cent thought the period, while Sydney was down 0.5 per cent. Prices fell 7.4 per cent nationally last financial year.

A total of $17.6 billion was wiped from the value of Australia's property market over the three months to June.

Tight lending, the federal election and the threat of negative gearing changes were major drags on the market through the period from April to June. Property researcher CoreLogic has since noted an increase in prices in July and August.

Largely stable markets Brisbane and Adelaide were also lower than at the start of the year (down 0.7 per cent and 0.6 per cent respectively). Hobart and Canberra were the only capitals to report gains through the period.

ABS chief economist Bruce Hockman said the falls were driven by houses in Melbourne and apartments in Sydney.

“Sydney and Melbourne housing markets have seen residential property price falls moderate this quarter. A number of housing market indicators, such as auction volumes and clearance rates, have begun to show signs of improvement, though they remain below the levels seen one year earlier,” said Mr Hockman.

Australia’s mean property price now sits at $638,900. The value of all 10.3 million residential dwellings nationally now sits at $6,610.6 billion, having fallen for the fifth consecutive quarter.

Independent economist Andrew Wilson said the data bodes well for the September quarter.

“Auction clearance rates have soared over winter to boomtime levels and home loan levels have surged,” he said.

“Latest ABS home data for the June quarter, although clearly backward looking, reports a clear easing in the house and unit prices declines reported by most capitals over the previous year.

“September quarter data is now almost certain to record solid increases in home prices with the growing possibility that prices — particularly in Sydney and Melbourne — may now record positive growth over 2019.”