<img height="1" width="1" style="display:none" src="https://www.facebook.com/tr?id=1653223531561810&ev=PageView&noscript=1" />
MMO Team Photo

What’s the Latest on Housing Prices? Do you know what your home is worth?

house pricesWhilst we haven’t seen house prices grow this fast in the last 17 years, the latest data from CoreLogic suggests the growth cycle may be tampering. 

It’s no secret that house prices have reached record-breaking highs this past year. We’ve seen it every day when yet another home sells for higher than auction reserve, and a client comes back to us wanting to increase their pre-approval limit.

CoreLogic’s latest Hedonic Home Value Index reveals that home values grew by 16.1% over the past 12 months – the fastest pace of growth since 2004.

But according to Corelogic’s data, in Canberra that figure was even higher…

Here in our Nation’s Capital, we’ve seen house prices increase by more than $95,000 over the quarter. This takes Canberra’s median house price to $905,323, which represents growth of almost 27.9% over the last year.

 

Are there signs that things are slowing down?

CoreLogic’s research director Tim Lawless describes the 1.6% increase in Australian housing value for July as “strong.” He also notes there are signs the market could be losing steam, as “the monthly growth rate has been trending lower since March this year when the national index rose 2.8%,” Mr Lawless says.

Potentially a further sign of a market slowdown, is the drop in new housing loan commitments for June. This is the first decrease in monthly lending figures for the year, according to the latest ABS Data.

 

What’s slowing things down?

With housing values rising more in one month than incomes are rising over an entire year, housing is moving out of reach for many members of the community, Mr Lawless explains.

“It is likely recent COVID outbreaks and associated lockdowns have contributed to some of the loss of momentum as well, particularly from a transactional perspective in Sydney which is enduring an extended period of restrictions,” Lawlesss adds.

Despite potential signs of slowing down, it’s important to note that housing values are still rising substantially faster than average. The average pace of monthly dwelling value appreciation over the last 10 years has been 0.4%.

 

So what’s ahead for the remainder of 2021?

CoreLogic’s analysis suggest the rate of growth will continue to taper through the second half of 2021, as affordability constraints become more pressing and housing supply gradually lifts.

However, given the demand for property remains strong (even in lockdown!), once restrictions are lifted around the country, it’s likely this pent-up demand will flow through to an increase in activity.

Given Spring is traditionally a busy time – especially in Canberra – it will be interesting to see how this plays out given our current lockdown. We have a feeling we’ll see plenty of activity throughout the rest of the year, regardless of predictions of things slowing down.

 

If you’re already a home owner and not looking to buy, what does this all means for you?

Well, given the increased growth we’ve seen in property prices, there’s a *very* good chance your home is now worth a lot more than you think!

If you’ve been making the most of low interest rates to get ahead on your mortgage, it’s likely you’ve built up some equity in your home. Perhaps you’d like to leverage this to assist with an investment property purchase, or maybe you’re thinking about investing in shares.

Alternatively, given we’re all spending much more time at home, perhaps you’d like to release funds to make improvements around the house. (Pool, anyone?!)

With interest rates still low and refinance rebates still on the table from some lenders, now is the perfect time to explore your options.

We’re here to help!

You can get started here.

 

Award Winning Mortgage Professionals

MO'R MORTGAGE OPTIONS