Major Australian cities saw home values drop 0.5% in January, according to a report by CoreLogic.
The declines were led by Sydney, which saw home values drop 0.9% in January compared to December to A$884,442 (US$700,336), followed by Melbourne (-0.2%), Adelaide (-0.2%), Perth (-0.4%), Darwin (-0.2%) and capital city Canberra (-0.1%). Values in Brisbane were unchanged.
Melbourne's most expensive home...is actually 6 homes. One of Australia's richest families, The Roches, are selling their multi-property estate in the posh neighborhood of Toorak for A$45 million and A$50 million—a price that could beat the state record https://t.co/cKiMEZeeCU pic.twitter.com/0pjrYc2sOi
— Mansion Global (@MansionGlobal) February 1, 2018
Hobart, the capital of Australia's island state of Tasmania, was the only city to log price increases, up 1% from December to A$409,160 (US$324,177), the report, released Thursday, said.
"Housing market activity is generally more sedate from late December through to late January," said Tim Lawless, CoreLogic head of research, in the report. "In the absence of a catalyst to reinvigorate the market, such as lower mortgage rates or a loosening in credit policies, we expect to see a continuation of softening conditions across these markets."
Home values in Sydney surged 75% between February 2012 and July last year, when values peaked, the report said.
But with a history of such strong capital gains, the report described the fall in Sydney housing values to date as "mild" and noted that the vast majority of homeowners there remain in a strong equity position.
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While values in many cities fell, Australia’s combined regional areas saw values edge higher, up 0.2% last month, the fourth consecutive month that regional markets logged stronger price growth than city markets.
Nationwide, the country saw home values drop a total of 0.3% in January.