House prices in the suburbs of Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide are back at record highs, even as the Reserve Bank has raised interest rates 13 times in 18 months.
Australian house prices peaked again on Wednesday, just 10 months after bottoming out, new CoreLogic data showed.
The market previously peaked in April 2022, a month before the Reserve Bank raised rates for the first time since 2010.
National real estate prices had fallen 7.5 percent, but have risen 8.1 percent since hitting a low in January.
This happened despite the Reserve Bank this month raising interest rates for the thirteenth time in eighteen months, taking the cash rate to a twelve-year high of 4.35 percent.
More than 400,000 migrants move to Australia every year, leading to increased demand for housing.
This is even more pronounced in the smaller state capitals, where population growth comes from interstate rather than overseas migration.
CoreLogic’s executive research director Tim Lawless said this explained why prices went from trough to peak in just 10 months.
House prices are already at record highs in the suburbs of Brisbane (pictured a Wishart house), Perth and Adelaide, even as the Reserve Bank has raised interest rates thirteen times in 18 months
‘The ‘V’-shaped recovery may seem counter-intuitive given high interest rates, deeply pessimistic levels of consumer confidence and high cost of living pressures, but the recovery can be explained by an imbalance between supply and demand, ‘ he said.
But Mr Lawless said the strong recovery in property prices was bad news for young Australians looking to buy their first home.
“While this is great news for homeowners, for people looking to buy, affordability pressures are becoming increasingly urgent amid rising values, high interest rates and worsening usability issues,” he said.
Brickworks managing director Lindsay Partridge said there were very few first home buyers in the market.
“First home buyers can’t afford a house, so they have to rent somewhere or live with their parents,” he told Ny Breaking Australia.
“The only people who can afford to buy a house today are someone who has a second or third home, or who has gone to mom and dad’s bank.”
House prices in Sydney and Melbourne have not yet peaked, but in Brisbane values have risen 11.3 per cent since January.
Some suburbs have done even better: the average house price in Wishart, in the city’s south, rose 17.7 percent in the past year to $1.257 million.
This put it well above the Brisbane midpoint of $860,465.
Perth property values have risen 12.3 per cent since the start of 2023.
But in Westminster, in the city’s north, house prices have risen 17.8 per cent in a year to a still-affordable $500,651, which is cheaper than greater Perth’s $660,069.
Adelaide property prices are set to rise by 7.7 per cent in 2023.
House prices in Sydney and Melbourne have not yet peaked, but in Brisbane values have risen 11.3 per cent since January
At Ottoway in the city’s north, they are up 15.4 per cent in the past year to $610,618, leaving them at levels below Adelaide’s mid-point of $753,575.
Sydney property prices have risen 11.4 per cent since January, but are still 1.8 per cent below the January 2022 peak.
But in Normanhurst, in the north of the city, the average house price has risen 20.2 per cent in a year to $1.944 million.
This was double the rate of 10 per cent in Sydney, bringing the median to $1.397 million.
Melbourne has missed double-digit growth despite receiving a large share of foreign migrants.
Property prices in the world’s most locked-down city have risen 4.1 percent since the start of the year, but are still 3.6 percent below the March 2022 peak.
But in Murrumbeena, in the city’s southeast, the average house price has risen 12.4 percent in a year to $1.722 million.
Prices in Canberra have risen just 0.5 per cent this year and are 6.4 per cent below the May 2022 peak.
But at Denman Prospect on the city’s western edge, house prices have risen 16.9 per cent in the past year to $1.209 million – a level higher than the national capital average of $961,329.
CoreLogic’s executive research director Tim Lawless said an undersupply of housing explained why prices went from trough to peak in just 10 months in a ‘V’-shaped recovery
Hobart property prices have risen just 1.5 per cent this year and are 11.8 per cent below the March 2022 peak.
But in Oakdowns, house prices have risen 6.2 per cent in the past year to $638,437, but it is still cheaper than Hobart’s midpoint of $705,919.
Darwin is Australia’s worst-performing capital market, with property prices rising just 0.8 per cent in 2023 and remaining 3.3 per cent below the September 2022 peak.
But in the satellite city of Palmerston, house prices in Zuccoli have risen 7.7 per cent in the past year to $537,315 – a level slightly below Darwin’s median of $578,704.