Despite a sharp drop in market activity and a severe weakening in consumer sentiment, home price rises were recorded across most capital cities, driving national house prices up 0.3 per cent in April.
Key points:
- Home price growth more than halved in April as COVID-19 restrictions took effect
- House prices performed better than unit prices, regions better than cities, while Melbourne was one of the weaker markets
- CoreLogic is tipping home prices could fall at least 10 per cent from their peak by later this year
But the national monthly pace of growth more than halved, dropping from 0.7 per cent in March.
House prices saw their smallest month-on-month gain since June last year, when the national index was down 0.2 per cent.
“Although housing values were generally slightly positive over the month, the trend has clearly weakened since mid-to-late March, when social distancing policies were implemented, and consumer sentiment started to plummet,” CoreLogic head of research Tim Lawless said.
However, while sale prices continued to edge up, the number of home listings was 35 per cent lower at the end of April relative to the same time a year ago and 43 per cent below the five-year average.
Industry activity has been hit hard by the drop in active buyers and sellers, as well as policies preventing open homes and onsite auctions.
Activity across CoreLogic’s ‘RP Data’ platform, where the majority of Australian real estate agents undertake their research to prepare a property for sale, was down by ar