
National home prices increased by 0.08% in July, marking the 12th consecutive month of growth despite winter slowdown.
The PropTrack Home Price Index showed prices are now 6.3% higher than a year ago across Australia.
However, price conditions varied significantly between cities and regions.
Paul Ryan, PropTrack Senior Economist, said Melbourne posted its fourth straight month of price falls.
“Melbourne has posted further price falls, and regional markets saw the first price drop since 2022,” he said.
Perth, Adelaide and Brisbane continued to see strong price increases, with Perth’s annual growth hitting 22.8%.
Sydney defied affordability pressures to record another month of price growth, rising 0.12% in July.
Mr Ryan attributed the ongoing price rises to strong housing demand, despite higher interest rates.
“Strong housing demand pushed prices higher, despite more homes being listed in what is a higher interest rate environment,” he said.
“Slow construction activity, above-average income growth and July’s tax cuts are clearly contributing.”
Capital city prices have increased 6.6% over the past year, outpacing regional markets.
Regional areas recorded their first monthly price fall (-0.12%) since late 2022.
Mr Ryan expects further price growth in coming months as the market enters the spring selling season.
However, he cautioned growth is likely to remain modest due to interest rate uncertainty and affordability challenges.
Melbourne’s 0.21% price fall in July brought the city’s annual decline to 0.82%.
Adelaide saw prices rise 0.58% in July, bringing its annual growth to 14.8%.
Brisbane recorded 0.34% growth for the month and 13.9% annually, making it Australia’s second most expensive market.
The report noted more affordable areas around Brisbane, like Ipswich and Logan-Beaudesert, have seen the strongest growth recently.