House price growth
The April PropTrack report found Australian median house prices reached a new record of $805,000. In April, regional areas led growth with a combined increase of 0.3%. Compared to 12 months ago, regional areas have risen by 4.6%, while capital city prices have increased by 3.35%. The top performing markets across the month were regional Queensland and South Australia where prices grew 0.5%.
The rate cut in February has positively impacted buyer sentiment, and consumer confidence is currently higher than it was last year. Queensland, South Australia, and Western Australia continue to be the top-performing regions. Regional Queensland has experienced particularly high growth, accounting for four of the top five strongest performing regions over the past 12 months. The report found that across Australia, the best performing regions tend to be in more affordable areas.
Proptrack reported that Brisbane has held the title of Australia's second most expensive capital city, behind Sydney, for 11 consecutive months. Less than a year ago, the median home price in Brisbane was lower than that in Melbourne. Now, it is $101,000 higher. In April, Adelaide experienced the highest growth in home prices among all capital cities, increasing by 0.3%. In contrast, Hobart was one of the weaker performing capitals over the past year, with a growth rate of just 0.1% in April. Home prices are expected to recover further this year, fueled by lower interest rates and increased incentives for first-time homebuyers.
