Annual property growth in Sydney at 15-year high

According to the latest monthly CoreLogic Hedonic Home Value Index, Sydney housing values for March grew by 19.7 per cent, while units in the NSW capital grew by 15.3 per cent.

Further, the Sydney and Melbourne property markets saw their fastest annual growth since 2010.

Overall, the report found that capital city dwelling values had shifted 1.4 per cent higher during the month, lifting the combined capital city index to an annual growth rate of 12.9 per cent – the highest for that metric since the year ending May 2010.

The study also found that four of the nation’s eight capital cities recorded an annual growth rate in housing values in excess of 10 per cent, while Perth and Darwin saw declining annual growth trends.

CoreLogic head of research Tim Lawless attributed the March results largely to a continued resurgence in the pace of capital gains. “This became evident through the second half of 2016, fuelled largely by lower mortgage rates and a rebound in investment activity,” he said.

“Since June last year, the CoreLogic capital city hedonic index has increased by 9.3 per cent, while Sydney and Melbourne recorded the strongest growth conditions,” Mr Lawless noted, adding that the annual rate of capital gains had also seen double-digit growth in both Hobart (+10.2 per cent) and Canberra (+12.8 per cent).

Meanwhile, dwelling values in Perth and Darwin dipped by 4.7 per cent and 4.4 per cent respectively, with the report indicating that economic conditions and migration trends remained weak across both cities.

For Adelaide and Brisbane, dwelling values continued to trend higher at a sustainable pace – rising 3.4 per cent and 3.7 per cent respectively over the past 12 months.

Overall, house values were 13.4 per cent higher over the past year, compared with a 9.8 per cent rise in unit values.

“The disparity in growth rates is more significant in those cities where high new unit supply is more apparent,” said Mr Lawless. “In Melbourne, house values were 17.2 per cent higher over the past 12 months compared with a 5.2 per cent increase across the unit sector,” he added.

“Similarly, in Brisbane, house values were 4 per cent higher over the past 12 months compared with a 0.2 per cent rise in unit values over the same period.”

In addition, the report found that selling times, discounting rates and auction clearance rates remained solid across the so-called "hot property markets", reflecting generally low stock numbers.

Auction clearance rates remained in the mid-to-high 70 per cent range across the combined capitals since early February. This, Mr Lawless said, was in large part due to high clearance rates in the prime auction markets of Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra.

The average selling time remained low across the strongest markets, with homes selling in approximately 30 days across Sydney and Melbourne, while discounting rates were well below 5.0 per cent in these markets.

Meanwhile, mortgage demand remained high, with strong demand across March. Indeed, the CoreLogic Mortgage Index jumped 8.1 per cent over 28 days, ending 26 March.

[Related: Sydney property market still booming]