Monday 1 August 2022 03:39 AM CoreLogic tipping biggest property market downturn since the early 1980s trends now
Some of Australia's wealthier areas are suffering the sharpest drop in property values, as surging interest rates spark the steepest housing market downturn in four decades.
For the third straight month, the median national home price fell in July - this time by 1.3 per cent, new CoreLogic data showed. House and unit values together have fallen by two per cent.
Interest rate hikes have already seen house and unit values fall by 2 per cent with more pain expected for borrowers on Tuesday with the Reserve Bank forecast to raise interest rates by 0.5 percentage points or even a 'super-sized' hike of 0.75 percentage points.
Wealthy postcodes in the big cities are leading the downturn with coastal and tree change regional areas also taking a hit.
Wealthier suburbs are suffering the sharpest drop in property values with surging interest rates tipped to cause the steepest housing market downturn in four decades (pictured are volleyball players at Manly on Sydney's northern beaches, where house prices have fallen by 7.8 per cent in three months)
CoreLogic's research director Tim Lawless said Australia's property market was facing the most severe plunge in four decades, with interest rates already surging at the fastest pace since 1994.
National property prices are now 2 per cent below April's peak, after soaring by 28.6 per cent during the pandemic when interest rates were still at a record-low 0.1 per cent.
'Although the housing market is only three months into a decline, the national home value index shows that the rate of decline is comparable with the onset of the global financial crisis in 2008, and the sharp downswing of the early 1980s,' he said.
Mr Lawless is forecasting a 15 per cent drop in 2022 and 2023.
NEW SOUTH WALESRicher postcodes have suffered the sharpest declines with mid-point house prices on Sydney's northern beaches falling by 2.5 per cent in July and by very steep 7.8 per cent over three months to $2,499,569.
Apartment values in this upmarket coastal area plummeted by 3.3 per cent in one month and by 6.9 per cent over three months to $1,173,049.
Sydney's inner south, taking in gentrified Redfern, saw its mid-point house price fall by 3.8 per cent in July and by 7.8 per cent in the quarter to $1,773,641.
Sydney's eastern suburbs suffered a 1.9 per cent monthly house price drop to $3,384,474, with mid-point house values plunging by 6 per cent over three months.
The city's north shore saw its median house price drop by 2.4 per cent in a month and by 5.9 per cent over the quarter to $2,884,719.
By comparison, greater Sydney's median house price fell by 2.5 per cent in July and by 5.3 per cent over the quarter to $1,346,193.
Regional areas a two-hour drive away from Sydney are taking a hit with the Southern Highland and Shoalhaven area, covering Bowral and the South Coast,
