Housing prices across the capital cities of Australia are horrifying high, but nowhere more than in Sydney, which is ground zero for the housing affordability apocalypse young people have been enduring for the past decade. There’s a slight glimmer of short-term hope, though: experts predict that Sydney property prices are set to fall by up to 10 percent over the next 12 to 18 months.
Prices already fell in Sydney by about 0.9 percent in December, leading the charge on a general drop in house prices across the country. Don’t pull out your wallet just yet, though. The median house price in Sydney is still $1,058,306, with a median apartment value of $774,124.
Tim Lawless, head of property consultant CoreLogic reminds us all that despite the fact we’re seeing a reversal in growth, property values are still really bloody high. “Despite the reversal in growth rates since August 2017, Sydney dwelling values remain 70.8 per cent higher than their cyclical low points in February 2012.”
Some have attributed the adjustment in prices to new rules introduced by the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority designed to curb heightened risk in the housing market by coming down on interest-only loans. These loans are favoured by some investors, and investors spur housing price growth.
“Investors are a big contributor to price growth in Sydney and this will stop them from paying the premiums they have in the past,” BIS Oxford Economics senior manager residential Angie Zigomanis told Fairfax.
Will this have any impact on you, dear reader, living in your mould-ridden terrace in inner Sydney? No it will not. But it shows that housing prices can’t just keep growing at the rate they have forever.
