Home values see first yearly drop since 2012
Regional areas performed well, but Sydney and Melbourne are dragging down results.
Regional areas performed well, but Sydney and Melbourne are dragging down results.The latest CoreLogic Home Value Index shows that national dwelling values have fallen into negative territory for the first time since October 2012. Nationwide, home values fell 0.1% in May, taking the annual values 0.4% lower.
The result marks the eighth consecutive month of declines for values, taking the cumulative decline to 1.1%.
"The negative headline growth rate is a symptom of weakening housing conditions across the capital cities led by Melbourne and Sydney, where previously capital gains were nation-leading," CoreLogic head of research Tim Lawless said.
Lawless said Sydney and Melbourne comprise around 60% of Australia's housing market by value and 40% by number.
"So the performance of these two cities has larger effect on headline market performance," Lawless said.
Both capitals were in negative territory, but Melbourne took over from Sydney as the nation's weakest housing market over the past three months. Melbourne home values were down 0.5% for the three months ending May, to be 1.2% lower for the quarter. Sydney values, meanwhile, were 0.9% lower for the quarter.
Perth, Darwin and Canberra also saw declines for the month. While Canberra maintained 2.3% growth for the year, Perth values were down 1.8% on an annualised basis. Darwin values were down 7.9%.
Hobart remained the nation's strongest market, up 3.7% for the quarter to sit 12.7% higher on an annualised basis. Regional areas also continued to outperform capital cities, with values up 2.2% for the year to the end of May.
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