Australia's 2024 property market: Prices slow across Australia – except in Brisbane and Perth
In cheering news for house buyers, the pace of price growth is continuing to slow in most capital cities – unless they plan to settle in Perth or Brisbane.
Purchasers with their eyes on the west or the 2032 Olympic city will have to stomach prices that skyrocketed last quarter about 1.5 times faster than the previous quarter – rising by an astonishing $571 a day in Perth and $417 a day in Brisbane – and double that of this time last year.
Elsewhere, however, there’s some relief in sight with the Domain House Price Report for the June quarter of 2024 showing that in most cities, price rises are still slowing compared to 2023.
“What we have is very much a multi-speed market across our capital cities,” said Domain chief of research & economics Dr Nicola Powell.
“But while price rises in most capital cities are losing momentum, in Perth and Brisbane, they’re doubling. Perth is having another heyday, reminiscent of the mining boom, and Queensland is still seen as a strong lifestyle location.
“Both of those markets are under-supplied with property and have had strong population growth, which is, at the same time, increasing demand. “In Perth, there’s a 22 per cent lower supply than last year and 43 per cent lower than its five-year average. In Brisbane, supply is 34 per cent below the five-year average, and the median house price will soon crack $1 million.”
House prices have again hit record highs nationally, not only in Perth, up 6.6 per cent to $852,240, and Brisbane, up 4 per cent to $976,464, but also in Sydney, up 1.3 per cent to $1.66 million, and Adelaide, up 2.6 per cent to $929,972. However, the pace of quarterly house-price gains roughly halved in Adelaide and Sydney.
Meanwhile, Melbourne and Canberra, where the housing markets have been struggling to recover, have improved.
Melbourne house prices rose 1.7 per cent in the quarter, marking their strongest quarterly rise in two and a half years. Canberra enjoyed its best performance in almost two years, recording a slight rise of 0.8 per cent.
Darwin, at the same time, flatlined, while Hobart prices actually declined.
“Sydney has another record price but we’ve seen house prices pulling back in the more expensive areas like the eastern suburbs and the northern beaches,” Powell said.
“The momentum of price gains is really losing steam with new listings coming onto the market 12 per cent faster than they’re being sold.
“In Melbourne, we’re seeing improved conditions with a surprisingly stronger rate of growth this quarter relative to what we’ve been seeing. For the last year and a half, prices have been going sideways, but now, maybe price rises are being driven by a perception of comparative affordability and value.”
The news is better, however, for those looking to buy apartments. All capital cities saw slowing price growth except Adelaide and Canberra. Sydney unit prices fell over the quarter for the first time in one and a half years, and those in Melbourne recorded their steepest quarterly decline since March 2023.
Yet in Perth, there’s no end in sight for those price rises. Domain research reports that the median is surpassing $800,000 for the first time.
In tandem with the drop in housing supply, Western Australia recorded the largest population growth in 2023 of 3.3 per cent, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, driven by its healthy economy and relative affordability of its property.
“We’re now seeing houses sell for ridiculous amounts of money,” said buyers’ agent Peter Gavalas of Resolve Property Solutions in Perth. “People are desperate and don’t want to miss out and we’re seeing a lot of big cash offers. That’s going to continue to push up prices.”
For Brisbane, Domain’s prediction that the median house price will pass $1 million next quarter marks a particularly significant moment in time for the city. Queensland Sotheby’s International Realty chief executive Paul Arthur says Brisbane is now really starting to come into its own.
“Once upon a time, Sydney and Melbourne were Australia’s only cultural cities,” Arthur said.
“But now Brisbane is growing and maturing beautifully and has much more sophisticated restaurants, stores, hotels and infrastructure.
“It’s becoming quite a sexy little city and giving so many more people the appetite to relocate there. It’s probably been undervalued for many, many years and it’s now having its time, especially with the excitement of the 2032 Olympics.”
In Melbourne, there’s also palpable elation among agents about how the housing market is finally picking up.
Jellis Craig Fitzroy’s Lloyd Lawton just sold a medium-sized four-bedroom house in Kew for $7.7 million.
“I think there’s still not a lot of stock around to choose from, which is driving prices up now,” he said.
“A lot of people still don’t want to build at the moment, so they’re looking for houses they can just move into. And we like to see prices on the up. It’s the great Australian dream to make money on real estate.”
With Sydney’s price growth now dampening, some vendors are backing away from the market, reports Simon Pilcher of Pilcher Residential in the inner west.
“That’s rebalancing supply and demand, and demand has fallen too.
“But while it’s going to be a little bit quiet for the next month, spring is around the corner, so we’ll see what happens then.”
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