Dwelling values fall for the first time since 2012

Combined the capitals had a drop of 1.1 per cent in value whilst combined regionals had growth of 2.2 per cent which resulted in the annual change of 0.4 per cent.

May was the eighth consecutive month-on-month fall since the national market peaked in September last year.

Commenting on the May results, CoreLogic’s head of research Tim Lawless said that the negative growth was a symptom of weakening conditions.

“The negative headline growth rate is a symptom of weakening housing conditions across the capital cities, led by Melbourne and Sydney where previously, capital gains were national leading,” he said.

The news wasn’t all negative and regional markets went up which offset a larger decline nation wide said Mr Lawless.

“The combined regional markets have helped to offset a broader decline, with dwelling values consistently rising, albeit at a much lower pace relative to the growth seen in Sydney and Melbourne over the previous growth phase,” he said.

Melbourne has taken over from Sydney as the weakest performing capital city for the month with a drop of 1.2 per cent whilst Hobart is the best performing city with 3.7 per cent growth.

Annually, Sydney, Perth and Darwin all experienced drops in dwelling values with 4.2 per cent, 1.8 per cent and 7.9 per cent respectively.

The rest experienced growth with Hobart having the largest growth with 12.7 per cent, followed by Canberra with 2.3 per cent, Melbourne with 2.2 per cent, Brisbane with 0.9 per cent and Adelaide with 0.6 per cent.

The May results confirmed that the market conditions are now following a new trend said Mr Lawless.

“Regional markets are outperforming the capitals, affordable housing options are showing stronger conditions and the previously top performing regions are now amongst the weakest,” he said.