House prices in some of the country’s most desirable suburbs have slumped by as much as $207,000 in just three months, dragged down by the ongoing weakness in the upper end of the housing market, data from CoreLogic shows.
By contrast, house values in some of the middle-priced suburbs and those with low stock levels jumped by up to $315,000 over the same period.
CoreLogic research director Tim Lawless said the upper end of the housing markets in Sydney and Melbourne continued to weaken, while the middle to lower end stayed relatively resilient.
Over the past three months to January, the top 25 per cent of Sydney’s housing market by value has dropped by 0.2 per cent, extending its 0.1 per cent fall in the previous three months.
In comparison, the middle segment of the market posted a gain of 0.6 per cent, while the lower quartile rose by 0.2 per cent.
Similarly, in Melbourne, the upper end led the decline, with values falling by 0.5 per cent, while the lower end dipped by 0.4 per cent.
Mr Lawless said the more affordable end of the housing market could see faster growth once interest rates started falling.
‘‘Lower interest rates will have a broad-based benefit as it lifts borrowing capacity for everybody, so in that sense, it floats the entire housing market rather than just one individual area,’’ he said.
‘‘But I think we could see a more pronounced impact in some of those markets where households are more sensitive to interest rates, such as the middle to lower end of the marketplace.
‘‘We could see a real pickup in first home buyers taking advantage of the lower rates alongside a lot of the concessions or incentives that exist in the marketplace as well. I think a lot of people will also be trying to take advantage of the Sydney and Melbourne markets where prices have dropped below their recent record highs.’’
Sydney’s northern suburbs and upper north posted some of the largest declines in house values in the past three months.
Houses in Newport on the northern beaches tumbled by 7.3 per cent in value, slashing $207,474 from the median to $2.62 million. Narrabeen, Bayview and Bilgola Plateau also lost more than 5.3 per cent, or around $154,000. Lindfield, East Lindfield and East Killara on the upper north shore also recorded sharp quarterly declines in house values, falling by 5.5 per cent, 5.3 per cent and 4.8 per cent respectively. Their medians are now lower by around $176,000 on average.
In Melbourne, house prices across Brighton, Caulfield North, Malvern and Caulfield fell by at least 4 per cent, shedding up to $178,000 in median house value.
House prices in Brisbane’s inner-city suburbs Teneriffe, Alderley and Wooloowin fell by 1.8 per cent on average or up to a $61,900 drop in their median values.
By contrast, house values in some middle-priced and tightly held suburbs bucked the slowdown and posted healthy gains in the past three months.
In Sydney, Haberfield in the inner west clocked the largest increase of 6.8 per cent or a nearly $200,000 lift in the median to $3.08 million. Neutral Bay and Mosman on the lower north shore also notched up sharp quarterly increases of 6.5 per cent and 5.7 per cent respectively, adding $201,643 and $315,391, to their median house price respectively.
Sydney-based real estate agent Thomas McGlynn of BresicWhitney said buyers had become price conscious in the past three months.
‘‘We saw a real flight to value, that’s why we’re seeing good growth in some pockets of the inner west, where houses are still priced lower than their premium counterparts,’’ he said.
‘‘Some expensive suburbs such as Mosman simply have no stock, so buyers have to compete fiercely when a property comes on the market, pushing prices even higher.’’
In the regions, the towns where house prices plummeted the most in the past year have bounced back strongly in the past three months, according to CoreLogic. Richmond-Tweed towns Lismore Heights, North Lismore and Lismore logged at least 8 per cent house price gains.
House prices in Mortlake in regional Victoria and Leyburn in regional Queensland increased by 6.2 per cent and 8.1 per cent respectively.
‘‘The lift in house prices in those regions could be a sign that more buyers are taking advantage of the fact some of these areas have become a bit more affordable after their recent price declines,’’ Mr Lawless said.