Property prices aren’t slowing down on the east coast
Did you know that almost every Australian capital city saw an increase in median property prices over the past 12 months to May?
That’s according to MyRPData’s May Property Snapshot, which found that Sydney is still the most expensive capital, with a median price of $752,000. That’s 15% higher than this time last year.
Sydney was followed by Melbourne (9.0% to $570,000), Brisbane (3.1% to $463,000) and Canberra (2.4% to $550,000).
The next highest growth rate was recorded in Adelaide (1.7% to $400,000) and Perth, the latter only growing 0.7% over the past year but still recording a fairly high median property price at $510,000.
Of the Australian capitals, it was only Darwin and Hobart that saw median prices decline, falling by 2.00% to $520,000 and 1.00% to $328,000 (the lowest median price in Australia), respectively, over the 12 months.
Australia has the lowest interest rates of all time
In May 2015, the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) reduced the official cash rate (OCR) by 25 basis points to 2.00%, the lowest it’s been in history. Industry commentators have speculated that further cuts may be on the table some time before the end of the year.
RBA Governor Glenn Stevens said that the latest round of interest rate cuts were aimed at increasing business investment and hasn’t ruled out further rate cuts either.
It’s welcome news for first home buyers but there really is no telling when a rate hike is around the corner.
It’s still an investors’ market
According to the May SQM Research, Property Listings Report, the total number of residential property up for sale fell 0.1% to 347,966 over the 12 months to April.
Melbourne and Sydney recorded the heaviest falls at 18.2% and 13.7%, respectively. It’s a sign that more people are holding onto property and suggests the market is made up largely of investors.
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