Property Update - September 2023

Monthly highlights
 

• CoreLogic estimates put the combined value of residential real estate at $10 trillion at the end of August.
  
  
• National home values rose 2.5% in the three months to August, down slightly from the 2.9% growth over the three months to July.
  
  
• Dwelling values across the combined capitals rose 1.0% in August, up from a 0.8% lift in July. Monthly increases across the combined capitals surpassed a 0.1% lift in the combined regional market over the month.
  
  
• CoreLogic estimates there were 38,149 sales in August nationally, compared to a historic five-year average of 39,774 for the month of August. The six-month moving trend suggests sales volumes are stabilising, despite being down from highs in 2021.
  
  
• The amount of time it takes to sell property trended slightly higher through the three months to July, with the median days on market edging higher to 34 days. This was up from a recent low of 30 days in the three months to April.
  
  
• At the median level, vendors are now offering less of a discount on their property. The median vendor discount nationally was -3.8% in the three months to August, up from a recent low of -4.3% at the end of last year.
  
  
• In the four weeks to September 3, new listings totalled 36,320 nationally. New listings trended 16.5% higher through winter relative to the end of Autumn, which is unusual for this time of year. New listings are now slightly higher than the historic five-year average.
  
  
• At the national level, there were 135,951 listings observed over the four weeks to September 3, 2023. Total listings are still trending lower than the previous five-year average due to strong absorption from sales.
  
  
• The combined capital cities clearance rate was fairly steady through the month, averaging 66.1% in the four weeks ending September 3 2023, compared to an average of 65.6% in the four weeks ending August 6.
  
  
• Australian rent values increased a further 0.5% in August, taking the national annual increase to 9.0%. Annual growth in rent values remains elevated on the previous decade average, but has shown signs of easing. The monthly uplift in national rents was the smallest since November 2020.
  
  
• Against the monthly increase in rent values of 0.5% nationally, purchase values rose 0.8%. This created a marginal reduction in the national gross rent yield to 3.82%, from 3.83% in the previous month.
  
  
• Mortgage originations for ‘riskier’ types of lending continued to trend lower through the June quarter of 2023. The portion of loans originated with a debt-to-income ratio of six or more fell to 6.1% (down from 23.1% in the March 2022 quarter), and loan to income ratios of six or more dropped to 2.8% in the quarter.
  
  
• The September ‘Chart of the Month’ shows the highest and lowest 12 month change in home values across SA3 markets of Australia. Sub-regions with the highest annual gains have become increasingly diverse, but are now skewed towards areas of Sydney, Regional Qld and Perth. 
   

Download the report here (PDF 2MB)