Its Not Unusual

House Values Dip Across Nation

HOUSE property values fell in all Australia's capital cities in April. Sydney's fell 0.3 per cent to a $667,500 median, the third lowest fall. The city had a 0.6 per cent drop during March.

''The magnitude of the corrections are not extreme, and is not a cause for alarm at this stage,'' a Residex forecaster, John Edwards, said. ''But it is very unusual to see the total market in a correction phase.'

The last time all the capital cities were in a downturn was June 2008, during the global financial crisis. Before that it was June 1990, when Australia was heading into recession.

''Both times before, the reasons for the downturn were much more obvious,'' Mr Edwards said.
Hobart recorded the biggest April fall of 2.3 per cent to a $380,500 median. Residex said Hobart was a very small market that was more susceptible to adjustment than other capitals.

Mr Edwards said Melbourne, while starting to adjust, still had relatively strong sales volumes, and prices had eased just 0.2 per cent to a $599,500 median.

''Melbourne has yet to enter a correction phase, so care in this market needs to be exercised,'' he said. ''All other housing markets will be approaching a turning point or will have passed the bottom of the cycle.

''While there may be a few more months of slight correction, these markets are worth watching for buying opportunities.

''In a situation like this, given other weak economic indicators, considerable care will need to be exercised by the Reserve Bank in regards to interest rates until the market regains some level of confidence,'' Mr Edwards said.

"Correction phase" and unusual.

Its called a crash bonesmoker. This is what they look like.

-1.25% a month and you have - 45% over 4 years.

-0.6% a month and you have - 17.5% over 4 years.

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