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Rental prices on Sydney units have fallen by almost 5% over the year on an influx of new supply. Image:AAP   Rental prices on Sydney units have fallen by almost 5 per cent over the year on an influx of new supply but remain "significantly" higher than anywhere else in Australia. Rental prices for Sydney houses and units fell during the June quarter and are down year-on-year, real estate advertiser Domain says, with house rents down by 3.6 per cent to $530 a week - $20 below the peak of $550 in 2017 and 2018. Rent for units in Sydney fell by 0.9 per cent in the quarter and 4.5 per cent over the year from $550 to $525 but Domain's quarterly rental report says the city remains the the most expensive capital city to rent a unit "by a significant margin". Units in Melbourne are the next most expensive to rent at a median of $420 a week. Sydney rents held up the best on the Central Coast and on Sydney's north shore but fell in other areas of Sydney, the re...

  Buyers are losing confidence in NSW apartments. Image: Getty More Sydney residents were evacuated from their Mascot Towers homes in June after cracks appeared in their walls, in an incident that echoed Christmas Eve’s Opal Tower evacuation in Sydney’s Olympic Park area. The images of confused residents milling outside the troubled towers with pets and belongings in their arms have come to represent New South Wales’ high-rise housing crisis. Nearly all (97 per cent) of new high-rise apartment buildings in NSW have some form of structural defect, a report from Deakin University released in June found. It’s a situation executive officer of the Owners Corporation Network Karen Stiles described as a “quiet haemorrhaging”.         Ghost Towers are haunting Sydney   And according to realestate.com.au chief economist Nerida Conis...

PHOTO: Sydney and Melbourne received a slight boost, but prices in most capital cities are still falling. (ABC News: Alistair Kroie) RELATED STORY: Developers bought everything next to Stine's house, then nothing happened RELATED STORY: A 'gnawing' burden: When buying a home leaves you with less than nothing RELATED STORY: Housing market at its slowest in 12 years — but is that about to change? RELATED STORY: Darwin, Perth and Brisbane house price drops accelerate, as Sydney and Melbourne falls ease Lower interest rates and improved property sentiment post-election appear to be boosting home prices in Australia's two biggest cities, but falls are continuing elsewhere. Key points: National home prices fell 0.2pc, with capital cities down 0.1pc and regional markets down 0.4pc Sydney prices rose 0.1pc but are still down 14.9pc from its peak, Melbourne was up 0.2pc but is down 10.9pc from its peak Preliminary auction clearance rat...

Housing prices fell in every capital city during the March quarter. Photo: Tammy Law   House price downturn spreads from Sydney and Melbourne to affordable Adelaide and Hobart   The housing downturn has spread around the country, with all capital cities recording dwelling price falls during the March quarter. Prices slumped nearly 4 per cent in the once white-hot Sydney and Melbourne markets but also inched lower in relatively resilient and affordable capitals such as Adelaide and Hobart, official figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics released on Tuesday show. A bank clampdown on lending and uncertainty ahead of the federal election had been weighing on sentiment, although confidence has lifted more recently on the back of an interest rate cut, a plan to let buyers borrow more money and the clear election result. “These results are in line with soft housing market indicators, with sales transactions and auction ...

  Nationally housing prices have been falling since mid-2017 and are now 10% down from their peak. But lately, people are starting to ask: “Are we there yet? How much further property prices likely to fall?” This current market downturn, which looks like it will end up as the  longest and most severe downturn in modern history, is being caused by the constrained ability to access finance, poor consumer confidence and the oversupply of too many of the wrong properties, rather than the typical cause of a market downturn such as economic recession or high interest rates. However, some green shoots are appearing… so let’s look at the latest graphs and statistics from CoreLogic to get a better idea of what’s happening around our property markets in Australia CoreLogic report that: Nationally dwelling values fell for the 18th consecutive month in April 2019, recording a -0.5% decline Over the month, combined capital city...

The Property Council of Australia and the Real Estate Institute of Australia have come out in support of the Coalition's First Home Deposit Scheme.   The Property Council of Australia and the Real Estate Institute of Australia have come out in support of the Coalition's First Home Deposit Scheme. Scott Morrison Facebook page The Coalition has announced a scheme to help first home buyers. Scott Morrison Facebook page The Coalition has announced a scheme to help first home buyers.   The Property Council of Australia has praised the Coalition’s announcement of a First Home Loan Deposit Scheme, saying it will deliver some "welcome assistance" for those looking to enter the market. Prime Minister Scott Morrison unveiled the scheme at the Liberal Party campaign launch on Sunday, committing $500...

A property 'bloodbath'? The worst-case scenario for the Australian market   A housing report warning of an impending property "bloodbath" where prices could fall by half in Sydney and Melbourne this year alone is a worst-case scenario, according to Nine finance editor Ross Greenwood. The report by LF Economics founder Lindsay David predicts prices in Sydney and Melbourne will fall by up to 25 per cent in 2019 but potentially by even more in what would be the worst crash since the 1890s. "I wouldn't be surprised by falls of at least 40 per cent," Mr David told News Corp. "When all hell breaks loose you’ve only got so many buyers out there." A new report has warned of a property "bloodbath". (AAP) House prices fell by 4.8 per cent nationally in 2018, according to data from CoreLogic. Sydney and Melbourne prices are now more than 12 per cent and 8 per cent down from their respective 2017 peaks.  Greenwood said the LF report, ominously titled "Let The B...

The east coast auctions market has held up even as overall activity picked up following several weeks weighed down by the Easter and and school holidays. On preliminary results the national clearance rate hit 58.8 per cent across the combined capitals, up from last week’s final clearance rate of 50.4 per cent. By contrast, this week last year the clearance rate was 62.1 per cent. The final clearance rate is expected to fall back to the low 50 per cent range once all results have been collected, on CoreLogic's view. Significantly, the relative resilience that has emerged in the market in recent weeks was maintained even as 1472 homes went to auction, compared with 1026 in the previous week, which included Anzac Day and the final week of school holidays in some states. In Melbourne, the preliminary auction clearance rate from 678 homes listed was 60.8 per cent, compared to 53.6 per cent over the previous week on a lower volume. Sydney booked a a 66.6 per cent ...

Sydney's median house price is on track to dip below $1 million for the first time in four years, according to analysis by one of Australia's leading real estate websites. Key points: The median house price in Sydney has not been less than $1 million since March 2015 Property prices in the Harbour City peaked in June 2017 Then, the average price for houses was almost $1.2 million   The latest Domain house price report shows Sydney's median house price is now $1,027,962, which is down 3 per cent over the past three months. Domain senior research analyst Nicola Powell said if the pace of decline continues, prices are likely to drop below $1 million in the next three months. The last time that was the case was in March 2015 when the median house price was $929,659. "Ultimately obtaining a home loan is more challenging and what that has translated into is there are fewer buyers in the market because buyers are having to meet more stringent lending conditions," ...

  Home values across Australia’s largest capital cities have been falling since they peaked in late-2017. National dwelling values fell for the 17th consecutive month in March 2019, however, there was a moderation of the rate of decline in house prices, the -0.6% monthly fall was the smallest since October 2018. However, it looks like this will be the biggest and longest national decline in home values for almost 40 years (or since records began in 1980). Consumers have lost confidence. First buyers went on strike, now sellers are holding back unless they really have to sell. And while the property markets have started 2019 with a positive note, with more interest from buyers, auction clearance rates rising, the banks chasing more business another hurdle has been put in our way. A federal election and elections create uncertainty and when there’s uncertainty buyers put their hands in their pockets. So it’s time for our monthly whip across the count...

Property slump is slowing, but the direction is still down   Property prices across the nation have taken a pummelling over the past 12 months. And while the downturn started to ease in March, the pain is far from over, a wide-ranging analysis of Australian economists has found. Property prices could fall by almost 8 per cent by the end of 2019, with units in Sydney and Melbourne expected to be worst hit, according to a RBA cash rate survey of 40 economists by consumer comparison website, Finder. The median house price in Sydney (measured over the past three months) currently sits at $930,000. But with a 6.21 per cent decline, as forecast by the economists, prices could plummet nearly $60,000, to a median of $872,242 by the end of the year. Property prices could fall by almost 8 per cent by the end of 2019. Graph: Finder The Melbourne median house price is tipped to fall by almost $50,000 by 2020. Unsurprisingly, the only capital city with increasin...

Australian property values fell $133.1 billion in the December quarter, with capital city home prices down an average of 2.4 per cent across the nation.   PHOTO: The data shows Sydney is three-quarters of the way to an average downturn, but in half the average time. (ABC News: Michael Janda) RELATED STORY: 'Every market losing steam' as housing downturn extends nationwide RELATED STORY: House price falls are bad news for car dealers. The RBA explains why Key points: Australian capital city home prices fell an average of 5.1pc over the past year Sydney (-7.8pc) and Melbourne (-6.4pc) led the annual residential property price falls BIS Oxford Economics says the current price falls in Sydney and Melbourne are about twice as fast as historical averages   Figures from the Bureau of Statistics show Sydney and Melbourne continued to lead the falls, with a 3.7 per cent and 2.4 per cent fall respectively. There were smaller q...

Data reveals 0.7% dip across Australia in last quarter, with Hobart the only capital to record property price rise        Property prices dipped by 4.1% in Sydney and Melbourne in the past three months as tighter credit conditions dampened the effect on buyers. Photograph: Joel Carrett/AAP Hobart was the only Australian capital to record a rise in house prices in the last quarter while Canberra home values were flat and other cities went backwards, according to new data. Sydney and Melbourne house prices dipped by 4.1% each in the past three months, while Hobart was up 1.1%, data researcher CoreLogic reported. The weakest-performing capital city was Darwin where house values declined by 5.1%. House price falls in Sydney and Melbourne not all bad, Reserve Bank head says     Read more Nationally there was a 0.7% drop in dwelling values in February, whic...

The housing market has taken a turn for the worse moving deeper into the decline of a debt-financed asset bubble, possibly driving house prices to fall by as much as 25 per cent in 2019 on nominal terms, according to housing bear and analyst LF Economics. The group made up of Lindsay David and Philip Soos, who have authored books on boom and bust in housing markets, lists 18 factors that are putting extreme pressure on the Sydney and Melbourne markets. Their baseline prediction is a 15 per cent to 20 per cent fall in prices just in 2019 although 25 per cent is possible. Scary times ahead for the housing market: LF Economics Rob Homer One of the main factors driving the pressure is $120 billion worth of interest-only loans that are transitioning to principal and interest loans between now and 2021. "Banks and regulators have already softened their stance on these borrowers, allowing some greater time to sell or extending the interest-onl...

CUSTOMERS saddled with mortgage debt say paying down their loan is a burden for them and it’s taking its toll. The nation’s top banker, the Reserve Bank of Australia’s governor Philip Lowe, recently warned borrowers interest rates will go up and not down and the value of their home could also fall. This was a strong word of warning for those thinking things won’t change anytime soon. Shortly after this three of the Big Four banks all announced they were hiking variable interest rates.   Customers should review their mortgage regularly to make sure they are getting a good deal. New independent analysis by YouGov Galaxy on behalf of Gateway Bank, which quizzed 1000 Australians, found 56 per cent believe their mortgage is a burden to them. And 43 per cent say it impacts them somewhat, while another 13 per cent say it limits their lifestyle significantly. Gateway’s chief executive officer, Paul Thomas, says 30 per cent of disposable i...

PHOTO: Sydney's median house price has dropped back below the $1 million mark. (ABC News: Michael Janda) RELATED STORY: Painful spring thaw predicted for east coast property markets RELATED STORY: Housing market drops for first time in 6 years, driven by Sydney and Melbourne Melbourne has overtaken Sydney as the nation's worst-performing housing market, and suffered its first annual price drop in almost six years. Key points: Data from property analysts CoreLogic points to accelerating housing downturn across the country Prices in Melbourne have dropped for the first time in six years, and at a greater rate than Sydney The national drop was the fastest since 2012, and are caused by many different factors   Property prices in Australia's second-largest city fell last month (-0.9pc) and over the past quarter (-1.8pc) — versus Sydney's slightly smaller drop in July (-0.6pc) and over the past three months (-1.1pc). However, on a...

Tough times ahead, more and more want to sell for fear of value decline and lack of tenants. LJ Hooker Merrylands' John Contos and Peter Tannous are selling lots of units. Peter Braig LJ Hooker's Peter Tannous has his work cut out for him in Sydney's west, where he is now either coaxing desperate homeowners to close the sale of their properties quickly before the market dips again or consoling those who have sold at a loss. As Corelogic's Hedonic Home Value Index confirmed that property prices are continuing to drift down, this week Mr Tannous sold a two-bedroom unit for a 30-year-old homeowner who "couldn't afford his mortgage" any more with a newborn arriving. The apartment on O'Neill Street in Guildford sold for $450,000 even though the owner wanted $489,000. He bought the home for nearly $483,000 at the peak of the market in 2015. "The royal commission has done the west no favours as banks tighten their lending criteria and focus more now than they ever ...

(Photo by VCG/VCG via Getty Images)The famous inflatable duck by Dutch artist Florentijn Hofman being uninstalled after an appearance in Beijing. Australia’s June quarter consumer price inflation report (CPI) has come in below expectations. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), headline CPI grew by 0.4% in the three months to June, leaving the increase on a year earlier at 2.1%. Markets had been expecting a quarterly increase of 0.5%, seeing the year-on-year rate lift to 2.2%. The quarterly rate marked the seventh consecutive report that CPI undershot economist expectations. In the year to March, CPI grew by 1.9% — so price pressures accelerated ever so slightly over the past year. “Most of this annual growth is due to strength in fuel, electricity and tobacco,” said Bruce Hockman, Chief Economist at the ABS. “Annual growth in prices of discretionary goods such as clothing and footwear, and furniture and household equipmen...

Sydney’s preliminary auction clearance rate jumped sharply last week, rebounding after hitting a decade-low in early July. Clearance rates also improved in all remaining capital city markets, helping to lift the nationwide measure despite a slight uptick in the number of homes going under the hammer. CoreLogic will release data on weekly price movements and listing levels later today. While it may have been driven by weak volumes and poor reporting levels, auction clearance rates in Sydney improved sharply last week, rebounding after tumbling to the lowest level since the GFC in the early July. According to CoreLogic, a preliminary clearance rate of 61.3% was achieved last week, well above the 52.4% preliminary estimate offered seven days earlier. While a sharp turnaround, auction volumes were low with just 400 properties going under the hammer, down from 408 one week earlier. CoreLogic received results from just 287 of the 400 auctions held. Within t...

PHOTO: Auction clearance rates are in the 40s in Sydney and low 50s in Melbourne. (ABC News: Angela Lavoipierre) RELATED STORY: Property prices drop for ninth month, as regional markets outpace the capitals Australia's property market is enduring a serious winter chill. Preliminary auction clearance rates in Sydney dropped below 50 per cent last weekend according to Domain's numbers and were clinging just above according to CoreLogic. Melbourne's market is a little stronger, although still stuck in the 50s. But many agents are slow to report unsuccessful auctions, so those clearance rates tend to drop noticeably when the final figures come in at the end of the week. "We're tipping somewhere between 41 and 44 per cent for Sydney and for Melbourne we're thinking it's going to come in roughly around 49 per cent," SQM Research managing director, Louis Christopher, said. That is a level consistent with the moderate price falls Sydney has experienced over the p...

How weather affects real estate, and why spring is not the best time to sell your house PHOTO: Autumn may be when temperatures start to go down, but it's also when house sales go up. (Supplied: Vishal Pandey)   The real estate market traditionally experiences a lull during winter and picks up in spring when gardens are lush and the sunny weather attracts more buyers to the streets. But is spring really the best time to sell? Real Estate Institute of WA (REIWA) president Hayden Groves said while spring can be a popular time for sellers, it can also mean there is more competition. "Generally speaking, there's a bit more optimism in the market, you do tend to see a bit of an uptick in sales activity once spring arrives, but it is also at the mercy of broader economic factors," Mr Groves said. "If you are a would-be seller and it is winter, and you're thinking 'perhaps I'll hold off until spring,' you can damage your prospects of getting a great outcome &hellip...

Brendon Thorne/Getty ImagesSYDNEY, AUSTRALIA – APRIL 28: A general view of developed properties in Edmondson Park on April 28, 2016 in Sydney, Australia. A report by The Grattan Institute release on Monday found the top 10 per cent of earners collect nearly 50 per cent of negative gearing tax deductions, prompting calls for the Federal Government to change tax breaks on housing investment available through negative gearing and capital gains tax discounts. (Photo by Brendon Thorne/Getty Images) Sydney’s median home price fell 4.5% in the 12 months to June, the largest percentage decline on record dating back to 1980. With the exception of the central coast, prices fell in all other parts of the city. Inner-west locations suffered the largest declines over the year. It’s been a tough 12 months for Sydney’s housing market, in stark contrast to what’s been seen in prior years. The median price fell 4.5% to $870,554, the largest percentage ...

Time to buy in Sydney property market, experts say COMBINATION of factors makes now the perfect time for buyers to get ahead in the Sydney real estate market. AS INVESTORS slow, property prices continue to decline and buyers feel the pinch of lending policy restrictions, experts say it’s a market perfect for equity-holders to get another piece of the Sydney property pie. CoreLogic Australia Head of Research Cameron Kusher said the recent slowing of the rate of decline in median house prices brought a shift in the market and created an opportune time for those who can, to strike. In December 2017 and January 2018, Sydney dwelling values fell at a monthly rate of 0.9 per cent, reducing to 0.6 per cent in February and 0.3 per cent in March, with early April figures further supporting the trend that the steepness was beginning to plateau. “It looks like the rate of decline is slowing which is spurred on by a few factors: an increase in people moving...

The retreat of investors from the property market is starting to look like a rout, with a big fall in applications in March. In seasonally adjusted terms, the value of investor loans fell 9 per cent, or almost $1 billion, over the month, Over the year, investor lending is down more than 14 per cent. Owner-occupier interest also cooled, down 1.9 per cent over the month. Overall the value of mortgages issued over the month fell 4.4 per cent. The impact of tougher credit rules demanded by APRA and the fallout from the bank royal commission's study of lax lending standards by mortgage brokers are taking their toll.   PHOTO: Investors are becoming rarer at auctions as tougher lending restrictions bite. (ABC News: Michael Coggan) RELATED STORY: Bank regulator relaxes investor loan 'speed limit', boards made accountable RELATED STORY: Westpac wants to know more about what its loan customers spend. Here's why   While house prices have been fall...

WA budget slug to overseas property buyers will hurt real estate market, industry warns A plan to slug foreign property buyers in WA with a 7 per cent surcharge will damage recovery of the state's property market, a real estate peak body has warned.   The measure, confirmed by Treasurer Ben Wyatt, is expected to be unveiled in detail in this afternoon's state budget. While the surcharge was restricted to residential property, Mr Wyatt said "significant residential developments" would remain exempt. It is unclear what qualifies a property as a "significant" development. The move represents an increase on previous plans for the surcharge of 4 per cent, which was due to come into effect from January 1.   PHOTO: The surcharge increase is expected to reap $50 million over the next four years. (ABC News ) RELATED STORY: WA budget: Here's what it means for you   WA budget 2018 preview: What you need to know Will the Treasurer ...

The fallout from the banking royal commission and APRA's stricter lending policies will see Sydney and Melbourne markets hit hardest, according to property analytics firm CoreLogic. "Credit policies aren't likely to be relaxed," said CoreLogic's head of research Tim Lawless. "Borrowers who could have borrowed money for housing finance six months ago will find it more challenging, especially if they want interest-only loans, or are buying for investment purposes." He predicted that values will continue to fall slightly in Sydney and Melbourne, "where the strongest growth has been, and where investors have been most concentrated". PHOTO: The median Sydney house price is still above $1 million, but on the way down. (ABC News: Michael Janda)   First fall since 2012 In its April report, CoreLogic found that dwelling values across the combined capitals recorded an annual decline — down 0.3 per cent — for the first time since November 2012. Though o...

Australia's corporate watchdog has permanently banned three people for providing false documents to Westpac, resulting in $17 million worth of home loans. Three former Sydney mortgage brokers have been banned for life after allegedly using fake documents to get Westpac to finance more than $17 million in home loans. The corporate watchdog found Xiaoyi "Jeff" Zhao, Jun "Leo" Ma and Liang "Victor" Zhang were knowingly or recklessly involved in providing false employer letters and pay slips to the bank to support 21 loan applications between 2015 and 2016. The companies nominated in the letters and pay slips were based in China and did not employ the customers concerned, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission said on Monday. The pay slips also showed the customers were being paid much more than they actually earned. "As a result of that conduct, Westpac financed over $17 million in home loans in reliance on false documentation," ASIC said in a statement. T...

The banking regulator is axing a 10 per cent speed limit on bank lending to property investors, saying the cap has served its purpose and improved credit standards. With Sydney house prices falling and credit growth slowing, the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority on Thursday said it would remove the cap for bank boards that could prove they had been following its guidelines on prudent lending. APRA is removing the 10 per cent 'speed limit' on investor loan growth. Photo: Louise Kennerley In late 2014, amid a surge in borrowing by property investors and rapid house price growth, APRA took the rare step of setting a 10 per cent limit on the annual growth in banks' housing investor loan portfolios. The measure has rocked the mortgage market in recent years, prompting banks to jack up interest rates for housing investors, and demand borrowers stump up bigger deposits. But on Thursday, APRA chairman Wayne Byres said it was prepared to remove the measure becau...

THIS shows just how nuts the Sydney property market is. You can literally do nothing to improve your home, but a few months later it can sell for a tidy profit.   The three-bedroom, three-bathroom terrace in Hopewell St, Paddington.Source:Supplied DESPITE claims by some experts that Sydney’s property boom “is over” and forecasts that prices could drop by as much as 10 per cent this year, the out-of-reach prices look to be here to stay. The extraordinary growth in the harbour city’s property market was evident over the weekend at the sale of a three-bedroom, three-bathroom terrace in Paddington, in the eastern suburbs. Renowned Australian architect Alexander Tzannes and his wife Margaret Noonan bought the house just a few weeks before Christmas last year for $3.66 million. The three-bedroom, three-bathroom terrace in Hopewell St, Paddington.Source:Supplied Alex Tzannes is a renowned Australian architect.Source:Su...

Canterbury-Bankstown Council has rejected the Sydney Metro rail project as well as plans to build thousands of homes along the corridor. Councillors put community before politics last week, unanimously voting to endorse two separate submissions to the NSW Government, opposing both the Sydenham to Bankstown Metro and its urban renewal strategy as they stand. Mayor Khal Asfour also criticised the Government for putting parts of the Metro out to tender before “the ink dries”. “What’s the point of asking for submissions, if they’re not even going to seriously consider them,” Cr Asfour said. Canterbury-Bankstown Mayor Khal Asfour has slammed the Government over the Metro project. Picture: David Swift The Government extended the deadline for council’s submission on the Metro until December 1 to give the councillors, who were only elected in October, time to digest the chunky documents. The Sydenham to Bankstown Metro includes a 13.5km ...