Down, Down (Some) Home Prices Are Down!!

As expected, there was a flurry of reporting on home prices to the end of June 2026 including data from Cotality and PropTrack picked up by the MSM, Social Media and everywhere you look. The Herald Sun for example trumpeted Sick Slump For Housing saying Confidence in Australia’s housing market has slumped as quickly as the start of the pandemic following the federal governments budget tax grab, with major builders reporting a collapse in the pipeline of work coming through as house prices plummet nationwide. The HIA said that the shock pull back was entirely caused by the government talking suggesting the Government has undermined the confidence of owner occupiers and first-time buyers. We haven’t seen market confidence collapse this quickly since the start of the pandemic. So the housing price sky is falling to misquote Chicken Licken from a classic European folktale which follows a nervous chick who mistakes a falling acorn for the sky crashing down. In a blind panic, he rallies a group of poultry friends to warn the king, but they walk straight into a hungry fox's trap. Cotality said that nationally their index dropped 0.4% in June making it the largest fall month over month since December 2022. Sydney experienced the biggest decline last month, down 1.2%, according to Cotality. While Brisbane and Perth rose more slowly (0.3% and 0.7%, respectively), Melbourne had a 1% decline. Adelaide didn’t change. But lets be clear, prices are still at all time highs in Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth and Darwin, even if growth rates are slowing. The same is true in regional areas across Queensland, South Australia, Western Australia and even Regional Tasmania. Rents are another question, as Rentals continued to be more expensive with basic growth of 0,4% before seasonal adjustments, leading to an annual growth rate of 5.9%, well above wages growth in real terms. Capital city rents have risen by 41.7% or $217 a week over the past 5 years they said. No surprise then that the DFA data to end June shows another rise in rental stress, and continued high mortgage stress. I will have more detail on this in later shows. As I discussed on Monday in my Rant with Edwin, lets keep a sense of proportion. Falling home prices are not the end of the world, current small falls are immaterial, though there are some deeper falls in some places, which need to be watched, and recall that New Zealand saw an 18% drop in prices, which are still well down 55 months later. Prices can go down as well as up. But will the Government let them is the question? If you are buying your home in Sydney’s contentious market, you do not need to stand alone. This is the time you need to have Edwin from Ribbon Property Consultants standing along side you. Buying property, is both challenging and adversarial. The vendor has a professional on their side. Emotions run high - price discovery and price transparency are hard to find – then there is the wasted time and financial investment you make. Edwin understands your needs. So why not engage a licensed professional to stand alongside you. With RPC you know you have: experience, knowledge, and master negotiators, looking after your best interest. Shoot Ribbon an email on [email protected] & use promo code: DFA-WTW/MARTIN to receive your 10% DISCOUNT OFFER. Find more at https://digitalfinanceanalytics.com/blog/ where you can subscribe to our research alerts Please consider supporting our work via Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/DigitalFinanceAnalytics Or make a one-off contribution to help cover our costs via PayPal at: https://www.paypal.me/MartinDFA We also can receive bitcoins at: 13zBL1oRib9VJu8Uc9zUGNhxKDBBgUpDN1 Please share this post to help to spread the word about the state of things.... Caveat Emptor! Note: this is NOT financial or property advice!! 🚨BEWARE OF SCAMMERS🚨 As there are accounts impersonating Walk The World in the comments on YouTube, note that our comments will have a distinguishable verified symbol. And remember that we will never message you asking you to give us money or talk to us on other platforms such as WhatsApp or Telegram