The Australian Bureau of Statistics recently reported that in the year to March, the weighted average of the eight capital cities residential property prices increased on average by 10.2 percent. The big movers were the Sydney and Melbourne markets up 14.4 per cent and 13.4 per cent respectively. And you can see from the chart below, Perth and Darwin reversed the trend with a 3.5 per cent and a 5.9 per cent decrease respectively.
MARCH KEY FIGURES
| Dec Qtr 16 to Mar Qtr 17 | Mar Qtr 16 to Mar Qtr 17 | |
| RESIDENTIAL PROPERTY PRICES | % change | % change |
| Weighted average of eight capital cities | 2.2 | 10.2 |
| Sydney | 3.0 | 14.4 |
| Melbourne | 3.1 | 13.4 |
| Brisbane | 0.0 | 3.5 |
| Adelaide | 1.5 | 5.0 |
| Perth | -1.0 | -3.5 |
| Hobart | 3.4 | 11.3 |
| Darwin | -0.9 | -5.9 |
| Canberra | 2.8 | 8.9 |
| Source: Bureau of Statistics | ||
What’s Driving Housing Prices?
We know that interest rates, building activity (supply), population growth and overseas investment (demand), consumer confidence and local job availability and growth, work in combination to affect house pricing. We also know that the housing market dynamics differ between capital cities, major towns and regional locations within the same state and across the country.
We also know that as prices rise in Sydney, it makes the regional and major towns where you can still commute back into the Sydney CBD more desirable. We also know that the New South Wales State Government has recently outlined measures to slow down foreign investment to make housing more affordable for first-time home buyers.
So whether there’s a Sydney housing bubble, a boom, a slowdown or a bust on the horizon as reported from the various media and property commentators out there on a daily basis; there are always opportunities for investing in property because we see this every day working with our clients. When you know how to assess all of the variables across a city, major town or regional centre that’s when the positive property investing deals begin to reveal themselves.
