Rates fall, house values lift and rents start to ease

A single cut to official interest rates has put a floor under Australian house values, with signs of recovery in Sydney and Melbourne and confirmation that the heat has come out of the nation’s ultra-expensive rental market.

As Treasurer Jim Chalmers and the opposition’s Angus Taylor set themselves up for at least one election campaign debate on the state of the economy, figures from CoreLogic released on Monday show the February interest rate cut has buoyed the spirits of potential buyers.

After 10 consecutive months of declines, Melbourne’s median house value rose 0.4 per cent in February while the value of units across the city increased 0.2 per cent. Despite the rise, house values in Melbourne are down 3.1 per cent over the past year while apartments have slipped 3.2 per cent.

In Sydney, house values lifted 0.3 per cent to be up 1.3 per cent over the past 12 months. Apartment values also inched up, by 0.2 per cent, in February to be 0.7 per cent stronger over the past year.

Value growth slowed in other capitals. In Brisbane, they were flat to be 8.6 per cent up over the year, while in Perth they lifted 0.2 per cent to be 13.9 per cent stronger than a year ago.

CoreLogic research director Tim Lawless said the Reserve Bank’s decision to cut rates, which started flowing through to most mortgage holders on Friday, was a key factor in the slight improvement in values.

“Expectations of lower interest rates, which solidified in February, look to be flowing through to improved buying sentiment,” he said.

“Along with the modest rise in values, we have also seen an improvement in auction clearance rates, which have risen back to around long-run average levels across the major auction markets.”

CoreLogic also noted the annual growth in rents continued to edge down.

Despite a 0.6 per cent lift in February, rents over the past year rose 4.1 per cent – the slowest annual growth since March 2021.

Annual growth in Sydney’s apartment market had fallen to 2.7 per cent after peaking at 17.9 per cent in May 2023. In Melbourne, rental growth had slowed to 3.2 per cent after hitting 15.2 per cent in 2023, while in Brisbane rents climbed 3.3 per cent over the past 12 months.

“The broader trend points to a slowdown in rental growth as households become larger and net overseas migration normalises,” Lawless said.

Interest-rate settings, and the state of the economy, are set to dominate the election campaign. National accounts for the December quarter, to be released this week, could show per capita economic growth – which has been in recession since late 2022 – finally turning positive.

Chalmers on Sunday said he wanted the economy to be at the centre of the campaign, while challenging Taylor to at least 3 public debates.

Citing a Coalition promise to spend at least $3 billion on an additional squadron of F-35A stealth fighter jets without explaining how they would be funded or serviced, Chalmers said the opposition was trying to keep voters in the dark on their policies.

“I hope the economy is the central focus of the election campaign whenever it’s called,” he told Sky News.

“I challenge the shadow treasurer to a series of debates about the economy. He’s had almost three years now, and he still has no costed, coherent or credible economic policies.

“I would have thought at least three formal debates between the treasurer and the shadow treasurer would be appropriate given how important the economy is.”

There was a single debate between Chalmers and then-treasurer Josh Frydenberg during the 2022 election, held at the National Press Club more than a fortnight out from polling day. In 2019, there was also just a single debate between Frydenberg and then-shadow treasurer Chris Bowen.

Taylor, who said he was prepared to debate Chalmers, said the treasurer should show courage by handing down a full budget on March 25 rather than an economic update.

“My priority this campaign is to be out on the ground across our great country talking to the thousands of Australian families and business owners the treasurer has let down through his failure to manage the economy, and how the Coalition’s plans will help them get back on track,” he told this masthead.

“Of course I’m willing to debate the treasurer. We will confirm debate arrangements when we have a confirmed election date, and whether this treasurer will confirm he has the courage to hand down a budget that actually delivers for Australians in contrast to the last three flops.”