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Property prices down: ABS

Following unprecedented growth, Sydney and Melbourne continue to now drag down property prices as they adjust, according to data released this week by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

The latest figures show that residential property prices fell 2.4 per cent in the December quarter 2018.

ABS Chief Economist Bruce Hockman remarked that Australia’s two largest cities continue to lead the fall.

“These falls follow a period of solid growth, where prices in Sydney rose 68 per cent and Melbourne rose 54 per cent, over the five years to December quarter 2017", he said.

Sydney property prices fell 3.7 per cent in the December quarter 2018 and have continued to fall since September quarter 2017, while Melbourne property prices recorded a fourth consecutive quarter of adjustment (down 2.4 per cent).

Hockman suggested that while property prices are falling in most capital cities, a tightening in credit supply and reduced demand from investors and owner occupiers have had a more pronounced effect on the larger property markets of Sydney and Melbourne.

Annual growth in residential property prices fell 5.1 per cent in the December quarter 2018. Falls were recorded in Sydney (down 7.8 per cent), Melbourne (6.4 per cent), Darwin (3.5 per cent), Perth (2.5 per cent) and Brisbane (0.3 per cent). Canberra (up 1.8 per cent), Adelaide (1.5 per cent) and Hobart (9.6 per cent) were the only capitals to register a lift.

The total value of Australia's 10.3 million residential dwellings fell by $133.1 billion to $6.7 trillion. The mean price of dwellings in Australia is now $651,100.