Syd, Melb leave other capitals behind
The Sydney and Melbourne markets have dramatically outperformed all other capitals over the most recent growth cycle, according to an analysis by RP Data.
RP Data research director Tim Lawless said the national market was experiencing “two tier conditions”.
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“Since the beginning of 2009, we have seen values rise by a cumulative 50.1 per cent and 46.1 per cent respectively in Sydney and Melbourne,” he said.
“Looking at the remaining state capitals over the same time frame, the next best performer was Perth where values are now 15 per cent higher, followed by Adelaide at 9.9 per cent, Brisbane with 5.3 per cent and Hobart where dwelling values are actually 1.5 per cent lower.”
Over the three months to August, the major cities combined recorded the strongest winter growth since 2007.
However, Mr Lawless said these rises were driven by the Sydney and Melbourne markets, where values rose by 5.0 per cent and 6.4 per cent respectively.
Canberra was the next best performing capital, recording a 2.5 per cent rise.
Only the detached housing market made gains in the city, with apartments dropping by 2.1 per cent.
Other capital cities recorded more moderate growth, with Brisbane rising by 1.3 per cent, Adelaide by 1.5 per cent and Perth by 1.0 per cent.
Darwin and Hobart both recorded modest falls over the three months, with drops of 0.6 per cent and 0.8 per cent respectively.
Nonetheless, Mr Lawless warned weakening rental yields made the Sydney and Melbourne markets less attractive for investors.
“Investors are mostly concentrated across the Sydney and Melbourne apartment markets where capital gains have been strong but yields have been pushed very low,” he said.
“Potentially there are better investment returns to be had in the smaller capital cities where the growth trend is less mature and yields are also healthier.”
