Australia’s home prices bounced back in June amid concerns that real estate markets in the country’s capital cities might turn downward.
The CoreLogic Home Value Index rose 1.8% over the month of June to a median value of A$635,000 (about US$482,000), according to the report released by Australia market information provider, Corelogic, earlier this week.
The index tracks the home prices in eight capital cities: Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth, Hobart, Darwin and Canberra.
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Sydney and Melbourne recovered strongly in June, with home prices increasing 2.2% and 2.7% month-over-month, respectively. The two cities, falling 1.3% and 1.7% respectively in May, were the major reason for the index to slip to negative territory that month.The combined index was down 1.1%.
The month-over-month increase can be partially explained by the seasonality in June, according to Tim Lawless, head of research at Corelogic.
On a quarterly basis, the price appreciation is still losing steam. During the three months leading to June, the index increased 0.8%, the slowest rate of growth since December 2015.
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Softer conditions across the Sydney housing market are mainly to blame. Home prices in Sydney grew 0.8% in the second quarter, down from 5.0% in the first quarter.
In terms of annual growth rate, Sydney’s home prices grew 12.2% in June to A$880,000 (US$668,000), compared to a year ago. Melbourne’s median home price rose 13.7% from last June to A$675,000 (US$512,000)