Melbourne’s median house price has fallen by 5.6 per cent in 2022, a fall of around $60,000 from its highest point in December 2021.
In a promising sign, the rate of decline slowed in the last quarter, and in fact rose 0.7 per cent in those final three months of last year.
Despite this, most economists are predicting some further falls to the median price in our city, which currently sits at $1,032,903.
The news was worse for units, which copped their sharpest annual fall in prices on record, with a 5.8 per cent slide.
According to Domain chief of research Nicola Powell, prices stabilised towards the end of last year because sellers increasingly kept their powder dry in the current downturn amid rising interest rates, while more buyers entered the market.
“It’s a massive change,” she told Fairfax Media.
“It really gives a clear view of how the market reacted to successive interest rate hikes and the aggressiveness of those interest rate hikes in the September quarter.”
Ray White real estate agent Brad Cooper said he was optimistic about the housing market and was seeing good quality homes performing well for sellers.
“I’m really buoyant about the market given the Reserve Bank has said there will only be a couple more interest rate rises,” he told Fairfax.
“It gives people more certainty – buyers can factor the rises in and plan for the future.”
However, experts like Commonwealth Bank’s Gareth Aird said people can expect more price falls while the Reserve Bank continues to lift rates each month.
The CBA are forecasting one more rate rise of 0.25 per cent early this year before a pause, and expect interest rate cuts to start coming in towards the end of the year.
Median price by capital city
City Dec-22
Sydney $1,413,658
Melbourne $1,032,903
Brisbane $801,449
Adelaide $783,705
Canberra $1,095,587
Perth $658,270
Hobart $737,650
Darwin $646,835
