Bateau Bay, Mornington, Tugun, Runaway Bay real estate: Property prices drop ... trends now Prices of properties near the beach and only an hour's drive from major city centres have fallen back below the $1million mark as new data shows their affordability will only continue to improve. National home prices in November fell for the seventh straight month this year with double-digit falls in Sydney and beach suburbs on the NSW Central Coast and Queensland's Sunshine Coast, CoreLogic data showed. Economists are expecting house prices to keep falling until the end of next year, as the Reserve Bank of Australia keeps raising interest rates from an existing nine-year high of 2.85 per cent. Sydney has been Australia's worst-affected market with the median house price this year plunging by 11.9 per cent to $1,243,126. Property prices near the beach only an hour's drive from a major city centre have fallen back below the $1million mark and are expected to become more affordable (pictured is Ettalong on the NSW Central Coast where median home prices have dived by 10.9 per cent or $116,978 this year to $954,252) Melbourne, which saw weaker price gains during the boom, in 2022 has seen its mid-point house price drop 8.1 per cent to $915,005. Australia's real estate market peaked in April, during the era of the record-low 0.1 per cent RBA cash rate. Since then, the Reserve Bank has raised interest rates seven consecutive times as inflation rose to a 32-year high. This has seen Sydney's mid-point house and unit price together this year fall by 10.9 per cent to $1,025,684. This has also seen median home prices in beachside areas, only a short drive to Sydney, Melbourne or Brisbane, fall back below the seven-figure mark, with some suburbs suffering a double-digit drop since April. Bateau Bay, on the NSW Central Coast, has seen its mid-point property price drop by 13.5 per cent or $145,885 since peaking in April to $936,442. On the Gold Coast, south of Brisbane, Tugun's median home price has fallen by 7.2 per cent or $76,479 to $992,090, with prices peaking later in June Beach suburbs where prices under $1million BATEAU BAY, NSW Central Coast: $936,442 ETTALONG, NSW Central Coast: $954,252 RUNAWAY BAY, Gold Coast: $910,457 TUGUN, Gold Coast: $992,090 PEREGIAN SPRINGS, Sunshine Coast: $999,006 TEWANTIN, Sunshine Coast: $907,070 MORNINGTON, Melbourne: $933,022 Source: CoreLogic median dwellings - house and apartment - data for November 2022 Advertisement Ettalong Beach, also on NSW's Central Coast, has seen its price fall by 10.9 per cent or $116,978 to $954,252. It's a similar story at Mornington, an hour's drive from Melbourne, where the median dwelling price has dropped by 9.2 per cent or $100,140 from the March peak to $933,022. On the Gold Coast, south of Brisbane, Tugun's median home price has fallen by 7.2 per cent or $76,479 to $992,090, with prices peaking later in June. Runaway Bay prices have fallen by 9.9 per cent or $100,478 to $910,457. The Sunshine Coast, north of Brisbane, had bigger double-digit falls with prices at Tewantin, near Noosa, diving by 13.6 per cent or $142,588 to $907,070 since peaking in April. Peregian Springs saw its mid-point property price fall by 11.8 per cent or $136,831 to $999,006. The prestigious suburbs on the Gold Coast and the Sunshine Coast have suffered sharp drops as Brisbane's median house price fell this year by just 0.8 per cent to $798,552, because values had kept rising after the earlier interest rate rises. AMP Capital chief economist Shane Oliver is expecting Australian home prices to fall by 15 to 20 per cent from the peak in 2022 to the trough in September 2023. It's a similar story at Mornington, an hour's drive from Melbourne, where the median dwelling price has dropped by 9.2 per cent or $100,140 from the March peak to $933,022 'The key drivers of the downturn remain: poor affordability; rising mortgage rates; a rotation in spending from goods, including houses back to services; cost of living pressures, making it even harder to save for a deposit; and poor homebuyer confidence,' he said. The banks have, since November 2021, been required to assess a potential borrowers ability to cope with a three percentage point rise in variable mortgage rates, which has significantly diminished the lending capacity of the banks. The RBA's November rate rise meant a couple with children, on a combined income of $150,000, are now only able to borrow $781,200, down 22 per cent or $214,600 from $995,800 back in April before the Reserve Bank's tightening cycle began, a RateCity analysis showed. The Sunshine Coast north of Brisbane had bigger double-digit falls with prices at Tewantin, near Noosa, diving by 13.6 per cent or $142,588 to $907,070 since peaking in April Someone buying a $1million property with a 20 per cent deposit would need to borrow $800,000. Monthly repayments on an $800,000 loan since May have risen by $1,118 from $3,075 to $4,193 as a Commonwealth Bank variable loan was climbed from 2.29 per cent to 4.79 per cent. CoreLogic's research director Tim Lawless said the expiry of ultra-low two per cent fixed rate mortgages in 2023 could see the downturn worsen. 'A lift in fixed mortgage rate refinancing activity from the second quarter of next year adds to the downside risk of higher mortgage distress,' he said. 'It's fair to say housing risk remains skewed to the downside while interest rates are still rising and household balance sheets become more thinly stretched.' House prices fall almost everywhere in November SYDNEY: Down 1.5 per cent in November and down 11.9 per cent in 2022 to $1,243,126 MELBOURNE: Down 1 per cent in November and down 8.1 per cent in 2022 to $915,005 BRISBANE: Down 2.2 per cent in November and down 0.8 per cent in 2022 to $798,552 ADELAIDE: Down 0.4 per cent in November but up 10.2 per cent in 2022 to $702,392 PERTH: Up 0.1 per cent in November and up 3.7 per cent in 2022 to $585,989 HOBART: Down 2 per cent in November and down 4.7 per cent in 2022 to $740,100 DARWIN: Down 0.3 per cent but up 5.2 per cent in 2022 to $588,972 CANBERRA: Down 1.3 per cent and down 3.5 per cent in 2022 to $987,450 Source: CoreLogic median house price data for November 2022 All rights reserved for this news site (dailymail) and under his responsibility