Rising but stable, REIA says

The December quarter of 2023 saw property prices in the Australian residential housing market increase overall, according to a report released this week by the Real Estate Institute of Australia (REIA).

REIA’s latest Real Estate Market Facts has revealed that the national median prices from the eight Australian capital cities increased by 1.8 per cent for houses and 1.7 per cent for ‘other dwellings’.

The median price for houses increased in Sydney, Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth, Canberra and Hobart, but decreased in Melbourne, and Darwin. Increases ranged from 1.1 per cent in Canberra to 7.5 per cent in Perth.

REIA President Leanne Pilkington noted that at $1,595,310 the median price for a house in Sydney continues to be higher than in the other capital cities.

This is an astonishing 58.7 per cent higher than the national median.

“At $560,000, Darwin has the lowest median price for houses, 44.3 per cent lower than the national median”, Pilkington added.

The report shows that over the 12 months to the December quarter, the national median price for houses increased at more stable rate of 5.3 per cent.

The national median price for ‘other dwellings’ increased to $658,953, a quarterly increase of 1.7 per cent. Prices in this sector increased in all capital cities except in Melbourne and Hobart, where falls were reported. Increases ranged from 0.8 per cent in Canberra, to 4.0 per cent in Adelaide.

“At $795,994, the median price for other dwellings in Sydney continues to be the highest among the capital cities, 20.8 per cent higher than the national median”, Pilkington said, adding that the lowest was in Darwin, which at $405,000 is 38.5 per cent lower than the national median.

Over the 12 months to December, the national median price for multi-unit dwellings increased 5.8 per cent.

Predictably, rents also increased, with the report showing that the national median rent for three-bedroom houses increased to $585 per week, a quarterly increase of 2.6 per cent.

The median rent for three-bedroom houses increased in all capital cities except Sydney, where it remained stable. Darwin had the highest quarterly increase of 6.8 per cent.

Vacancy rates in the December quarter fell in Sydney and Adelaide, but remained stable in all other capital cities.

The largest decrease was in Sydney (0.2 percentage points). Adelaide continues to have the tightest rental market with a 0.5 per cent vacancy rate. Vacancy rates from the eight capital cities increased to 1.6 per cent over the quarter, a fall of 0.1 percentage points over the quarter, and 0.2 percentage points over the past year.

“Darwin has the highest vacancy rate at 2.9 per cent followed by Melbourne at 2.3 per cent,” Ms Pilkington concluded.