The CoreLogic House Price data for the final month of 2018
Down 1.3% m/m (combined capital cities)
- prior -0.9%
- down 6.1% y/y
- For the October to December quarter, the fall was the biggest since the same quarter in 2008
Sydney and Melbourne are the two huge volume housing markets in Australia and with continuing declines for these the overall index keeps falling.
Commentary:
- "Access to credit has been the most significant factor weighing down housing market conditions over the year," said Tim Lawless, head of research at CoreLogic.
- access to finance likely to remain "the most significant barrier" to an improvement in housing market conditions in 2019
- "Lenders are understandably risk-averse against a backdrop of falling dwelling values, high household debt, rising supply and heightened regulatory focus following the banking royal commission inquiry"
