Home values around the country barely moved over the month of February, new data shows.
CoreLogic’s Home Value Index (HVI) recorded a sharp reduction in the rate of decline through February.
The national index declined 0.14% over the month, the smallest monthly fall since May 2022, when rate hikes commenced.
A 0.3% rise in Sydney dwelling values was the most significant driver of the national deceleration, however, the loss of downwards momentum was broad-based. Darwin (down 0.3%) was the only capital city to record a steeper monthly fall in February, albeit from relatively flat conditions previously.
Every other capital city except Hobart (which was down by 1.4%) saw housing values fall by less than half a percent over the month.
CoreLogic’s research director Tim Lawless said the stabilisation in housing values over the month coincides with consistently low advertised supply levels and a rise in auction clearance rates.
“The past four weeks have seen the flow of new capital city listings tracking 17.0% lower than a year ago and 11.9% below the previous five-year average”, Lawless said.
“This trend towards a below average flow of new listings has been evident since September last year, coinciding with a loss of momentum in the rate of value decline.”
Auction clearance rates also bounced back through February, with the capital city weighted average reaching the high 60% range through the second half of the month, while Sydney clearance rates rose to above 70% in the week ending 19 February, the first time since February 2022.
Upper quartile housing values have led the downturn to date, dropping 13.5% in value across the combined capital cities over the past 12 months, compared with a 1.7% rise in values across the lower quartile. Previous cycles have seen a similar trend, where the upper quartile tends to lead both the upswing and the downturn.
Dwelling values remain higher than they were at the onset of COVID across every capital city and broad rest-of-state region.
Melbourne now has the smallest buffer, with values virtually equal to March 2020 levels (currently sitting just 0.03% higher), followed by Sydney, where dwelling values remain 7.7% higher.
At the other end of the spectrum is Regional SA (47.6%) and Adelaide (41.4%), where housing values surged through the upswing and have remained relatively resilient to value falls through the rate hiking cycle to-date.
