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Sydney's Median House Price Falls Below $1 Million - But Still Unaffordable For Most People

Sydney's Median House Price Falls Below $1 Million
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Modern House

People dreaming of owning a home in Sydney can breathe a very slight sigh of relief – the median house price has fallen to below $1 million.

According to Domain Group's March House Price Report, Sydney's median house price dropped 1.5 per cent to $995,804. The median prices of apartments fell in every capital city following a record number of apartments being built in most capitals; apartment prices slipped 0.7 per cent to $656,166.

This quarter, house prices fell in every capital city, apart from Melbourne and Hobart. In Melbourne, prices rose by 1.2 per cent, while in Hobart they rose 4.3 per cent.

The Domain Group's data matches earlier results from Corelogic RP Data which recorded Sydney's median price at $805,000.

According to CoreLogic RP Data, by analysing the rate of capital gains across different valuation brackets, the result reveals the differences in the rate of dwelling value appreciation.

Research analyst Cameron Kusher said the most affordable quarter of suburbs recorded annual value growth of 6.6 per cent compared to a 6.4 per cent rise across the middle market, and a 7.0 per cent rise across the most expensive suburbs.

"Across the most affordable suburbs, we've seen values move 1.8 per cent higher over the March quarter followed by the most expensive suburbs move by 1.7 per cent, and the middle market suburbs by 1.6 per cent," Kusher said.

At the height of the craziness of Sydney's property boom, a fibro cottage in Narraweena, on the northern Beaches -- with no indoor toilet -- sold for $1.105 million. There were six people bidding for a home with an outdoor dunny.

The 1940s home sold for $105,000 over reserve.

Dr Andrew Wilson, Domain's chief economist told Fairfax the weakening economic activity and growing uncertainty is affecting fragile consumer and investment sentiment, leading to falling house and unit prices in most capital cities.

"The outlook for house prices remains subdued. The prospect of weaker house price growth, however, will be welcomed by prospective first home buyers still struggling to get into the market," Dr Wilson said.

According to NAB's Quarterly Australian Residential Property Survey, foreign buyers of new homes accounted for just 11.8 per cent of total new property sales, down from a peak of 16.8 per cent in September 2014.

Sydney: Home values across the city increased by 7.4 per cent over the past year after annual growth peaked at 18.4 per cent in July 2015. Over the past year the most affordable suburbs have seen values rise by 8.0 per cent.

Melbourne:

Recorded home value growth of 9.8 per cent over the past year, down from a recent peak of 14.2 per cent in September 2015. The most affordable suburbs recorded value rises of 9.7 per cent compared to 10.5 per cent across the middle market and 10.0 per cent across the most expensive suburbs.

Brisbane: Home values increased by 4.5 per cent over the past year with the

rate of value growth higher than it was a year ago. The most expensive suburbs recorded value growth of 4.6 per cent over the past year compared to a 5.1 per cent rise across the middle of the market.

Adelaide: Home value changes have been fairly steady having increased

by 3.2 per cent over the past year. The most expensive suburbs saw values rise by 3.2 per cent compared to a 3.1 per cent increase across the middle market and a 2.9 per cent increase across the most affordable suburbs.

Perth: The only major capital city to see value falls over the past year, however, the annual rate of decline has started to improve, easing from -4.1 per cent in November 2015 to the current annual decline of -2.0 per cent.

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