The median dwelling value in Melbourne has been overtaken by Adelaide and Perth, making Melbourne’s median the third lowest among the capital city markets. The Adelaide median is now $790,800 and Perth’s is now $785,250, compared with $776,044 in Melbourne.In August, Adelaide and Perth saw increases in the median dwelling value of $13,600 and $15,300 respectively, against a -$3,100 fall in the Melbourne median.
“This is the first time that Perth’s median dwelling value has been higher than Melbourne’s since February 2015, when the city was just coming off the highs of an iron-ore boom. It is also the first time in CoreLogic’s forty-year median dwelling value series that Adelaide has had a higher median than Melbourne.”
It is worth noting that the median dwelling value is highly skewed by the portion of units in each market. Melbourne’s median is weighed down by the composition of housing in the city, where around a third of homes are units, compared with about 16% of homes in Perth and Adelaide. The median house and unit values across Perth and Adelaide are still lower than in Melbourne.
Melbourne home values have now declined for six consecutive months. Ms Owen noted there were a wide range of factors contributing to Melbourne’s softer market conditions, but it is not the only market in decline.
“The increased tax burden on investment property owners in Victoria, as shown in an annual fall in the number of investment loans secured in the state reported by the ABS, may be dissuading some demand. But it’s not the only factor at play.”
Hobart and Canberra dwelling values are also in decline, with interstate migration trends have been weak across Victoria, Tasmania and the ACT in recent years. These markets also had a stronger run-up in price growth throughout the 2010s, so it’s harder to sustain demand while interest rates are high.
“Supply is also a big factor for Victoria, where the state saw more dwelling completions over the past decade than any other state or territory. ACT also saw a spike in unit completions from 2019 to 2023, which has helped keep downward pressure on the overall dwelling market.”
(Source: Corelogic Research News 2nd September)
