Australians hoping to crack into the housing market could consider a stream of inner city suburbs declining in value, as prices in other parts of the country continue to soar.
Both Melbourne and Perth have seen several inner urban areas dropping in value over the last five years, according to Domain’s latest House Price Report.
Units in Melbourne’s Carlton have seen the biggest shift nationwide, with a 33.30 per cent decline to a median value of $320,000.
Melbourne, North Melbourne and Brunswick West, all located within 3km of the CBD, also saw unit prices drop by roughly 13 per cent. A minimum of 50 sales are required to get the median price of house and units in the area.
The suburbs have traditionally been tenant-led instead of owner occupier-led areas, Domain head of research Nicola Powell told the Age. However, as investors shy away from Melbourne these prices have fallen.
In contrast, Sydney’s inner suburbs have kept their value, with strong shifts in unit prices instead occurring in western suburbs like Kingswood and Mount Druitt.
Perth was another capital city that has become more affordable for first-time homeowners.
Both unit and house price values fell over the last five years in the inner city suburb of Perth East, declining almost 10 per cent to a median price of $351,625 and $492,000 respectively.
However, property price drops are isolated to small parts of the market, with all suburbs in Queensland and South Australia recording growth over the same period.
Recording 17 consecutive months of growth, the national median home price was up 6.68 per cent year-on-year in May, according to the data from PropTrack.
PropTrack data shows that Perth, Brisbane and Adelaide remain the strongest for annual growth, with prices up 20.58 per cent, 14.49 per cent and 13.69 per cent respectively.
Australians shifted their housing preferences during the pandemic and relocated to the regions, desiring more space and bigger homes.
While this trend persisted for those with flexible working arrangements, there has been a flip in the last 12 months back to capital cities as evidenced from financial comparison site Canstar.
