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Wary developers seeing little signs of residential price falls
Samantha Hutchinson
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Property Writer
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Lend Lease CEO Steve McCann, left, with Mike Baird and Andrew Constance at Darling Harbour. Picture: Dylan Robinson. Source: News Corp Australia
[b]The nation’s biggest developers are waiting nervously for signs that the residential market is easing, as sales and inquiry levels hold strong.[/b]
“We have been waiting to see if inquiries or sales rates would start falling, but we are yet to see any evidence of that happening in the projects we have released,” Mirvac chief executive Susan Lloyd-Hurwitz said.
Lend Lease chief executive Steve McCann agreed, noting the house view was that the market was approaching its peak, but sales rates, inquiry and prices in apartments and homes were yet to show evidence of a market that was waning.
Nevertheless, the company has lifted its pre-sales thresholds to 70 per cent and emphasised that it would be disciplined in halting projects if the thresholds dipped lower.
“We’ve got a consistent and proven strategy and significant growth in the pipeline in an environment where top-line growth is getting harder and harder to achieve,” Mr McCann said.
The comments come in the same week Macquarie analysts called the market’s peak, and predicted that house prices could fall up to 7.5 per cent from March 2016 onwards.
Credit Suisse analysts were similarly bearish, arguing that historical data indicated that home-sales activity could fall by more than 40 per cent in the coming months, which could see prices fall as supply outpaces demand.
But inquiry levels are likely to persist at current levels until early next year, according to HIA chief economist Harley Dale, who believes that tighter lending conditions will take some time yet to substantially dampen inquiries and apartment sales figures.
“It’s all about how much of the pipeline gets converted into construction, and at this point in time there’s nothing to suggest this conversion won’t occur, and keep occurring even into next year,” Mr Dale said. “There’s still a lot of demand out there and while inquiry rates are still high, they may start easing over the next six months as credit conditions tighten. They’ve tightened already, but it comes with a lag.”
CBRE residential director David Milton noted that conversions rates relating to sales for every inquiry had dipped slightly, but had been stable for five months or so with one sale in every eight inquiries, down from one in every five.
“There’s a lot more stock on the market,” Mr Milton said.
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Melbourne tipped to leave struggling Sydney in its wake
Greg Brown
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Property Reporter
Sydney
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Auctioneer Rodney Morley at the $3m sale of a mansion in Melbourne’s Ripponlea yesterday. ‘For quality houses people are queuing up,’ he says. Picture: Aaron Francis Source: News Corp Australia
[b]Melbourne is set to surge ahead of Sydney and become Australia’s best performing housing market, with last week’s auction clearance rates in the NSW capital the lowest for the year, while action in the Victorian market held up.[/b]
Only 66 per cent of Sydney homes put to auction last week attracted a buyer, according to Core Logic RP Data.
Melbourne performed better than at the same time last year and held steady with the week previous, with nearly 1400 homes going under the hammer at a clearance rate of 73.4 per cent.
The drop in activity in Australia’s biggest property market comes as Westpac last week rose interest rates for owner occupiers in a move that many analysts expect will followed by the other majors.
Further debate on the future of the residential property market was sparked last week when Macquarie analysts claimed that house prices would drop by 7.5 per cent by mid-2017.
Economist Saul Eslake said that buyer sentiment had changed due to uncertainty about interest rates and the reduction in lending to property investors.
“These have contributed to a significant change in sentiment but I think that it’s too early to say anything more than that,” Mr Eslake told The Australian.
“Forecasts of imminent price declines are nothing new we’ve had those on a recurring basis since the global financial crisis,” he said.
One historic home on Melbourne’s affluent Ripponlea sold at an auction yesterday to local residents for nearly $3 million in front of a crowd of about 100.
Auctioneer Rodney Morley said that demand for freehold houses in Melbourne was still strong, adding that any weakness was in the inner city apartment market.
“Land is as hot as anything. For quality houses people are queuing up,” Mr Morley said.
The Reserve Bank of Australia on Friday issued a frank warning about the residential market, saying that there was an oversupply in the Melbourne and Brisbane inner city apartment markets.
On the entire market in Melbourne and Sydney, which is running at annualised price growth of 16 per cent, the RBA said: “There are a few tentative signs that sentiment may be turning in the housing markets of the two largest cities.”
Australian Property Monitors senior economist Andrew Wilson said last week’s auction results showed there was more steam in the Melbourne market, while Sydney was set to wane.
Century 21 Australia chairman Charles Tarbey rejected that values would drop significantly.
Mr Tarbey also criticised Westpac’s decision to raise rates on owner-occupiers and doubts the other banks will follow.
“I think Westpac has used the opportunity to increase their revenues at the expense of general home buyers who went into these transactions in good faith,” Mr Tarbey said.
“I believe the other banks will raise rates further for investors but not for the general homebuyer which would make it appear that Westpac is double dipping,” Mr Tarbey said.
Off-the-plan apartment seller, CBRE’s Justin Brown, said that price growth would be moderate but would not decline.
“There is a flight to quality, there is more choice for people, but the market is still robust and there is a fundamental issue that we have an undersupply,” Mr Brown said.
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‘Schools the key’ to lure Chinese buyers
Rowan Callick
[Image: rowan_callick.png]
Asia Pacific Editor
Melbourne
[Image: 477987-7b201824-7558-11e5-9022-b1fac89549f0.jpg]
Li Ming, of Aussiehome Real Estate, says ‘our new education service ... will help keep Chinese people coming to Australia’. Picture: Aaron Francis Source: News Corp Australia
[b]As the flow of Chinese capital into Australian real estate starts to slow, property agents are starting to reap rich rewards by adding private schooling to the packages they offer.[/b]
Li Ming, co-director of Aussiehome Real Estate based in Melbourne, said education was a priority with most Chinese property buyers in Australia.
“Our new education service, alongside our foreign property investment agency, will help keep Chinese people coming to Australia, and help keep the education sector here booming,’’ Dr Li said.
Most would choose private schools, said Dr Li — who has a PhD in computer science from Sydney University — and preferred universities and postgraduate programs that were perceived as top grade. “We have received huge demand in this area, and have already started to set up service agreements” to provide introductions, he said.
His new agency, Australian Education Express, was finalising agreements with several Melbourne private schools, including Wesley, Camberwell Girls Grammar, Presbyterian Ladies’ College, Lauriston Girls’ School and Carey Baptist Grammar.
“We are now always combining our services, selling education together with property,’’ he said. “The schools and universities need foreign students for their finances and, these days, reputation, and to help in creating and building exchange programs with schools overseas, including especially in China.”
Chinese students first have to take an English-language test, for which Dr Li’s agency helps them prepare, as well as providing information about the schools.
“Our clients consider whether the schools are within walking distance, the physical environment, and academic results, as well as sports and arts,” Dr Li said. “If we are able to satisfy their education requests, it also makes it easier for us to sell property.”
There was still huge demand from China, he said. On a recent visit, he set up an eight-year agreement as a provider with the Australian National Exhibition and Trading Centre that is based in the Shanghai free-trade zone. It is a new centre endorsed by the Australian and Chinese governments. It has set up 11 shopfront centres in cities near Shanghai to promote Australian education services.
“We use these premises as the hubs to disseminate Australian education services to potential students and their parents in China, to help them select the most suitable school,” Dr Li said.
Later this year Aussiehome will run a roadshow in China to highlight some Melbourne private schools. Principals, universities and Education Department officials will also take part. The roadshow will visit Shanghai, Njngbo, Nanjing, Qingdao, Wuxi and Zhuhai.
The one-child policy, Dr Li said, meant that “Chinese children are especially precious, since the whole family’s future relies on them. That intensifies the middle-class idea of sending their children overseas to study at the best places, and Australia is favoured.”
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Buy in Hobart, Gold Coast and Melbourne – avoid Perth
NaN of
[img=620x0]http://www.afr.com/content/dam/images/g/j/z/5/y/t/image.related.afrArticleLead.620x350.gkbtzo.png/1445157719964.jpg[/img]MONA, in Hobart, which is shaping up to be the next top property investment destination.
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by Su-Lin Tan
Property investors wondering where to put their money in 2016 should look to Hobart, Gold Coast and Melbourne – and avoid Perth, SQM Research's Louis Christopher said.
"We believe that Melbourne will be the out-performer of the year, followed by the Gold Coast and Hobart. Each of these respective cities are benefiting from the lower Australian dollar," he said.
Economic improvements led by the Tasmanian government and a falling unemployment rate has driven demand in the rental market in Hobart. Rents will grow 5 to 8 per cent next year as vacancies fall.
Gold Coast, another tourism exporter, is also strong and slightly ahead of Hobart in value, Mr Christopher said.
"Holiday destinations are looking very good now for landlords. Gold Coast has a potential of 7 to 11 per cent capital growth and rental yield growing to 8 per cent." Vacancies are down in the Gold Coast, similar to Hobart.
While the RBA cautioned on "housing oversupply" in Melbourne in its latest Financial Stability Review, Mr Christopher was not concerned, as statistics indicate a robust Melbourne market.
"I cannot ignore the data: falling vacancy and accelerating rents in Melbourne," he said.
"There may be oversupply in certain pockets such as the Docklands but the population growth in Melbourne is still quite strong."
The Melbourne housing market is forecast to grow by 8 to 13 per cent.
Mr Christopher said buyers should avoid Darwin, which will have rent declines of up to 12 per cent, and Perth, which is still in a downward price correction.
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Property slump looms? Not so, say NAB's Andrew Thorburn and Westpac's Brian Hartzer
DateOctober 15, 2015
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James Eyers
Senior Reporter
The chief executives from two of Australia's big four banks have dismissed predictions of a sharp correction in house prices.
After Macquarie Group, Credit Suisse and Bank of America Merrill Lynch all flagged growing risks in housing – with Macquarie tipping a 7.5 per cent fall in prices across the nation – the two big bank bosses said the rate of growth would subside, but it would nonetheless remain positive thanks to the country's population growth and its geography limiting the supply of new houses.
National Australia Bank CEO Andrew Thorburn said while the weaker global economy and local regulatory caps on lending to property investors would see the pace of price rises slow, home prices in Sydney and Melbourne would rise at high single-digit rates due to strong demand and limited supply of housing close to city centres.
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Andrew Thorburn says high single-digit price growth in Sydney and Melbourne is "quite plausible". Photo: Louie Douvis
"You will see in Sydney and Melbourne, high single-digit rates of growth as being quite plausible given the fundamental drivers of what are pushing those prices up," he said at an Australia Israel Chamber of Commerce lunch in Sydney on Wednesday.
According to RP Data, house prices in Sydney climbed 17.6 per cent in the past year and prices in Melbourne were up 15.6 per cent.
Westpac CEO Brian Hartzer said conditions in the housing markets were "still pretty reasonable".
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Brian Hartzer says there is still "a reasonable amount of support" in the housing market. Photo: Louie Douvis
'Good, underlying demand'
"There continues to be good underlying demand for housing and in some markets, particularly NSW, a deficit of housing relative to that demand. So we think that should underpin things," he told Fairfax Media after the bank announced a $3.5 billion capital raising on Wednesday and an increase in interest rates on home loans by 0.20 percentage points.
"There are some challenges around, but it's reasonably strong, and particularly we've seen a pick up in demand for owner-occupied housing, even as the changes on investment property lending have come down," Mr Hartzer said.
"So all of those things together make us feel that there's still a reasonable amount of support, and we don't agree with the people at the extreme who say there's a big bubble that's about to burst."
Westpac's move to raise rates on Wednesday outside any move in the cash rate by the Reserve Bank of Australia, is expected to help to cool the rapid growth in house prices, especially if the other banks also raise their interest rates.
Mr Hartzer said a reduction in the levels of house price growth would be healthy for economic stability.
"What we've seen is strong growth, particularly in the Sydney housing market. We would expect, and we think it would be sensible, if the growth rate slowed. The main thing we all want to avoid is a speculative housing boom, where people are buying houses because they believe the price is going to go up rapidly in the near future, and are using debt to do that. That's not healthy.
No evidence of speculation
"We don't see evidence of people speculating in house prices, we see house prices going up in response to supply and demand."
Both bank chiefs also pointed to Australia's dual economy, noting that conditions in property markets were much softer outside Sydney and Melbourne.
Mr Thorburn said people in regional areas, Perth Adelaide or Brisbane, "are not saying house prices are going up too rapidly. Sydney and Melbourne are a particular case." RP Data says Adelaide and Perth houses are flat on the year while Brisbane is up about 5 per cent.
Macquarie forecast on Monday a "7.5 per cent reduction from peak to trough", while Credit Suisse said Australian property was now riskier than shares, particularly in NSW. "Home buying conditions have deteriorated sharply," the investment bank warned.
Bank of America Merrill Lynch, meanwhile, said high indebtedness, coupled with a downturn in house building and prices, could hit consumer spending and property investment once interest rates started to rise.
For now levels of borrower stress in the banks remain very low. In its unaudited financial resultsfor the full year released on Wednesday, Westpac said mortgage delinquencies had declined because low interest rates were helping borrowers pay debt.
But Mr Thorburn said in his speech on Wednesday, one of the biggest risk for the banks was rising unemployment.
"While interest rates are at an all-time low, we have more people ahead on repayments than ever before, but the key driver here is unemployment. With unemployment at around 6 per cent and generally forecast to drift down rather than drift up, I think that is the best indicator we can look at as to the confidence in the economy generally and housing specifically."
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Property downturn forecast dismissed by industry chiefs
Kylar Loussikian
[Image: kylar_loussikian.png]
Journalist
Sydney
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Lend Lease chief executive Steve McCann at the 2015 Property Council Congress at the Gold Coast. Picture: Glenn Hunt Source: News Corp Australia
[b]The residential property sector is in no immediate risk of a downturn, according to some of Australia’s most senior real estate executives, despite a number of dire warnings from investment banks and falling auction clearance results.[/b]
Lend Lease chief executive Steve McCann, at the Property Council’s 2015 Congress, said that the market had “absolutely plateaued” but there was no further risk, while Dexus Property chief Darren Steinberg said there was another two years to run in the current property cycle.
The congress, ongoing at the Gold Coast, comes as figures show auction clearances remained below 70 per cent for the fifth weekend in a row. Melbourne recorded a clearance rate of 73.6 per cent, while Sydney had a clearance rate of 66.6 per cent, according to yesterday’s CoreLogic RP Data figures.
Analysts at Macquarie last week forecast an adjustment process because of a combination of strong supply and weak population growth, with a 7.5 per cent decline in residential property prices until a recovery in the second half of 2017.
Mr McCann said a more difficult environment for property investors was the biggest real concern, more worrying than the risk foreign buyers would fail to settle on off-the-plan purchases if the local economy worsened.
“We look at our settlements from mainland Chinese buyers that are due to settle post June 2017, and it represents about 10 per cent of the book,” he said.
“Anyone who fails to settle between now and then is leaving behind a 20 per cent currency adjustment and a 10 per cent to 15 per cent price increase, so it’s hard to see how those early settlements are a risk for our book and for the residential industry in Australia.
“The bigger issue is local rules, (Australian Prudential Regulation Authority) regulations, and banks tightening their lending, which in my opinion is more relevant than China settlement risk.
“In this low-interest environment and (with our) very good unemployment statistics, I don’t see a significant downturn risk emerging,” Mr McCann said, a sentiment echoed by fellow panellists including Charter Hall’s David Harrison and Louise Mason, AMP Capital’s managing director of office and industrial real estate.
Mr Steinberg said he expected Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull to be “far less strident” than his predecessor, Tony Abbott, on matters of foreign investment, less concerned about winning the politics of sentiment against foreign real estate investors.
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Chinese investment only just getting started, says JLL
NaN of
[img=620x0]http://www.afr.com/content/dam/images/1/0/0/f/v/e/image.related.afrArticleLead.620x350.gkddy9.png/1445331462787.jpg[/img]China is transitioning from ‘made in China’ to ‘made for China’. Getty Images
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by Mercedes Ruehl
Sharemarket scares and growth fears about China are overdone, with Chinese outbound capital expected to hit a record $US20 billion ($27.5 billion) by the end of the year according to real estate group JLL.
"In 2013 we saw the first big wave of Chinese outbound capital, with $US11 billion deployed from China," JLL's International Capital Markets director Darren Xia, based in Beijing, said.
"That number was $US16.5 billion in 2014, with the second destination for that capital being Sydney. Over the year to date that number is already $US17 billion and we are forecasting it to hit over $US200billion by the end of the year."
In a presentation entitled Investment Super Power? China's Growing Role in the International Investment Landscape, Mr Xia said China is transitioning from 'made in China' to 'made for China'.
"[China] consumes 54 per cent of global aluminium, 45 per cent of global steel, 30 per cent of rice and 12 per cent of oil. Another factor is growing middle class. There is wealth appreciating in China that is happening in a big way and we just aren't hearing about it."
In the past 6 months, the slowing Chinese economy and volatility in the sharemarket have created a lot of uncertainty. JLL believes the stockmarket is not a true indication of the Chinese economy. "The US population is 61 per cent allocated to financial products. When we come to China that number is 15 per cent," Mr Xia said.
But when it comes to real estate, the Chinese are 39 per cent allocated to real estate, as compared with the US, which is 23per cent.There are four types of capital coming out of China: insurance groups, sovereign wealth funds, developers and others such as private wealthy individuals and corporates. All want to diversify overseas.
One example is insurance groups, Mr Xia said. Current legislation in China says 15 per cent of assets under management can be allocated to overseas investment or real estate. Analysis of the top 10 insurance companies in China by JLL using that figure puts the number of investable assets that the Chinese insurance companies can deploy at $US500 billion.
"If we put that number with the fact we are already seeing a lot more developers in the local market, a lot more private investors investing in hotels and offices, then I think we are really only still seeing the tip of the iceberg for Chinese capital."
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Australian banks out, foreign banks in, for residential development
NaN of
[img=620x0]http://www.afr.com/content/dam/images/g/k/f/0/k/o/image.related.afrArticleLead.620x350.gkdzr7.png/1445420814082.jpg[/img]Banks are pulling back on lending for residential apartment development. Jesse Marlow
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by Matthew Cranston
Australia's major banks are tightening lending to certain residential apartment developers and areas they suspect are oversupplied but Asia-based banks are jumping in and increasing their exposure to the sector.
The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority shows foreign banks have increased their exposures to residential development by $663 million in 12 months to June.
In Brisbane, where the Reserve Bank of Australia warned of an oversupply last Friday, the latest $200 million apartment tower to begin construction is backed by Japanese bank Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation.
Developer Consolidated Properties' Don O'Rorke said the domestic banks were not competitive enough.
"We went with the Japanese bank because they had better commercial terms than the domestic banks," Mr O'Rorke said, "They had lower establishment fees, lower interest rates and they were more flexible on the amount of required presales and number of offshore buyers."
In the year to June this year the major banks actually showed an increase in exposure to residential development, but developers, bankers and financial intermediaries say the brakes have gone on in the last few months.
"The banks are trying to naturally separate the developers with track records from those who are part-time developers."
In Sydney Stamford Capital's Domenic Lo Surdo said banks were tightening up on lending to particular types of developers.
"We are seeing the emergence of domestic banks looking at certain areas more carefully and they are certainly looking more closely at the quality of developers," Mr Lo Surdo said, "That also includes foreign groups looking to get started here – the banks have openly told us they won't be supporting a lot of that."
Malaysia's biggest bank Maybank recently provided the debt for developer Fajarbaru Group and Beulah International for a new apartment project in Doncaster in Melbourne's eastern suburbs. The domestic banks were not present.
Commonwealth Bank of Australia denies cutting out certain geographies.
"While Commonwealth Bank understands there are markets that have significant supply in the pipeline, no geographic areas are closed for us in relation to residential property development," a CBA spokesman said.
"What we focus on to determine our risk appetite is a combination of the quality of the project sponsor and the various deal parameters."
NAB and ANZ declined to comment and Westpac neither confirmed nor denied such shifts. "We have a dynamic view on market risk across all asset classes and jurisdictions and adjust our approach accordingly," a Westpac spokeswoman said.
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Deutsche Bank says housing market remains strong
David Rogers
[Image: david_rogers.png]
Markets Editor
Sydney
[Image: 639064-67827b6a-77db-11e5-b642-5d72264fdbf2.jpg]
Predications of a significant downturn in Australia’s housing market may be overblown, a Deutsche Bank analyst has said. Source: Reuters
[b]Predications of a significant downturn in Australia’s housing market may be overblown and the share prices of housing-exposed stocks are potentially offering good value after a recent pullback, a Deutsche Bank analyst said.[/b]
Falling auction clearance rates, slowing population growth and out-of-cycle interest rate hikes from the major banks as they aim to meet capital-adequacy requirements imposed by the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority have fuelled talk of a cooling in the housing market, with Macquarie forecasting a 7.5 per cent fall in prices next year.
The Reserve Bank’s Financial Stability Review last week said there were “growing risks” in property markets, and some “look oversupplied”.
And according to some economists, Westpac’s interest rate hike on loans to investors as well as owner-occupied borrowers last week will trigger industry-wide hikes that could force the Reserve Bank to cut the cash rate again next month to prevent a damaging pullback in housing investment.
But while auction clearance rates have fallen about 15 per cent from a record high in April, history suggests this is unlikely to be enough to dampen housing construction. Several years of flat house prices are more likely rather than a price fall once the boom ends, Deutsche Bank strategist Tim Baker said in a report.
In Mr Baker’s view, strength in house prices may spread to other states, particularly Queensland, allowing the nationwide housing boom to continue even if the overheated Sydney market cools.
Despite some concern about the record level of housing starts in Australia and slowing population growth, housing starts relative to the size of the population are below previous highs, he said.
“In fact, we still see a lot of underbuild to work off — construction needs to rise 20 per cent to get back the historic trend,” said Mr Baker said.
The tight supply in the housing market is reflected through high rental costs — particularly in Sydney.
“Regarding affordability, it’s actually still the case that renters, not mortgage-payers, are facing elevated housing costs.
“And we see poor rental affordability as the best evidence of a genuine underbuild over the past decade.”
Mr Baker said the recent underperformance of housing-exposed stocks seemed to be prematurely pricing a fall in housing starts as they were trading on a 5 to 10 per cent price-to-earnings discount to the market — the largest in four years — despite offering above-market earnings per share growth.
“While housing-related growth can’t continue forever, we’d prefer to back the momentum, and flag the possibility for commercial construction — now at depressed levels — to improve as housing comes off the boil,” he added.
Deutsche Bank’s model portfolio contains housing-exposed stocks including Boral, Stockland, Fletcher Building, Harvey Norman, REA Group, and the firm also likes CSR and Peet Group.
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House-price growth brakes sharply in Sydney, Melbourne, Domain says
NaN of
[img=620x0]http://www.afr.com/content/dam/images/g/k/e/z/1/e/image.related.afrArticleLead.620x350.gkej55.png/1445421412694.jpg[/img]'The great Sydney house price boom has ended': price growth slowed sharply in the September quarter, Domain Group says. Supplied
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by Michael Bleby
The residential market is running out of puff, with house prices in Sydney growing at less than half the rate of three months ago, the latest Domain House Price Report shows.
The NSW capital chalked up a new record median house price of $1,032,433 in September, up 3.2 per cent from June but well down on the 7.7 per cent quarterly increase in June.
Sydney apartments showed an even greater deceleration, slowing to quarterly growth of just 1.5 per cent from 7.4 per cent in June.
"The great Sydney house price boom has ended, with house price growth tracking back sharply over the September quarter," the report said.
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House price growth also slowed in Melbourne, rising 2.8 per cent to a median price of $707,415, down from June's 6 per cent increase. Unit price growth picked up to 1.9 per cent from 0.3 per cent.
SEDATE PERIOD
Steady borrowing costs – prior to Westpac rate rise last week – and weak incomes growth are the reasons for the slowdown in the two largest cities, which in turn has pulled back the national rates of house-price growth. This doesn't mean prices will fall – Sydney and Melbourne will continue to increase – but with lacklustre performance at best in the other cities, Australian housing looks to be in for a much more sedate period.
"The general outlook for housing markets across Australia is moderate to modest growth (at best) over the remainder of 2015 and into 2016," Domain Group senior economist Andrew Wilson said. "Despite slowing, Sydney and Melbourne will continue to lead the pack on price growth with Adelaide, Hobart and Canberra remaining solid. Brisbane, Perth and Darwin, however, will remain relatively subdued."
Domain is owned by Fairfax Media, publisher of The Australian Financial Review.
Apartments in Brisbane continued to fall in price, as the predicted glut plays through into the market.
"This was the fifth consecutive quarter of falling unit prices in Brisbane," Dr Wilson said. "With high levels of new apartment construction entering the market over the past year, supply has pushed well ahead of demand."
From a year ago, Brisbane apartment prices have fallen 5.6 per cent. Houses, which are up 3.6 per cent year on year, rose 0.8 per cent from the previous quarter.
Houses in Hobart posted a similarly modest growth of 0.9 per cent, but units took a leap in the three months to September, jumping 8.5 per cent after a 4.5 per cent decline in June. The Hobart median unit price is at $269,302, up 6.1 per cent from a year ago.
Canberra is mixed. Houses gained 2.3 per cent over the quarter, putting them up 7.8 per cent year on year – the fastest annual pace since September 2010. The quarterly decline in apartment prices sped up to 4.7 per cent from 3.7 per cent.
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