Sydney home values dip for first month since January 2023

CoreLogic’s Home Value Index (HVI) for October has shown a 0.1 per cent fall in the value of homes in Sydney, marking the first time the HVI recorded a drop in values since January 2023.

This followed what was a “short but sharp” drop in values of 12.4 per cent between February 2022 and January 2023.

According to CoreLogic, weaker conditions were led by the most expensive areas of the market, with a fall of 0.6 per cent in upper quartile housing values over October, and a 1.1 per cent drop over the past three months.

However, Sydney’s lower quartile house and unit values recorded a half percent rise in values over October.

Along with Sydney, declines were also recorded in Darwin (1 per cent), Canberra (0.3 per cent), and Melbourne (0.2 per cent).

Despite these drops in value, Perth’s home values helped drive an overall price increase with a rise of 1.4 per cent. As a result, CoreLogic’s HVI recorded a 0.3 per cent increase in Australian home values for October.

While the 0.3 per cent rise marks the 21st consecutive month of growth since February 2022, annual growth in national home values has continued to cool, declining to 6 per cent over the 12 months ending in October, down from peak annual growth of 9.7 per cent in February 2024.

Tim Lawless, CoreLogic’s research director, said that stronger performances across the more affordable ends of the market have been a “consistent theme across the capital cities”.

“A combination of less borrowing capacity and broader affordability challenges, as well as a higher-than-average share of investors and first home buyers in the market is the most likely explanation for stronger conditions across the lower value cohorts of the market,” Lawless said.

“The past three months has seen the lowest quartile either record a higher growth rate or smaller decline relative to the upper quartile or broad middle of the market across every capital city except Canberra.”

Meanwhile, PropTrack’s Home Price Index tells a different story, with values in Sydney increasing 0.19 per cent month on month, while national home prices rose by 0.26 per cent, leaving them 5.62 per cent higher than this time last year.

REA Group senior economist Eleanor Creagh said that buyers are “out in force” in this year’s spring selling season as the index hits a new peak during October.

“Though price growth had been slowing, the stronger October rise of 0.26 per cent marks the 22nd consecutive month of growth,” she said.

“It's clear resilient housing demand is defying persistent affordability restraints.”

Creagh said that the stage 3 tax cuts introduced in July have helped bolster borrowing capacities and budgets, further supporting growth.

“The persistent rise in home values has also motivated many to overcome affordability challenges and transact,” Creagh said.

“Though home price growth regained speed in October, elevated interest rates and affordability constraints are weighing.

“Buyers now have more properties to choose from, and uncertainty around the timing of interest rate cuts remains. Still, prices are expected to remain on the rise as the busier selling season closes out.”

[RELATED: Housing supply challenges persist despite government initiatives]

Adrian Suljanovic is a journalist at Broker Daily with more than two years experience reporting on all facets of the third party distribution channel.

Adrian has written for a range of business and finance titles including IFA, Investor Daily and Lawyer’s Weekly before joining the mortgages team in 2022.

He graduated from the University of Wollongong in 2021 gaining a Bachelor of Communication & Media with a major in Digital & Social Media.

E-mail Adrian at: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.