Summary of RP Data report:
Capital city home values increased by 0.6% in July after increasing by 1.0% in June
·
Capital city dwelling values increased by 0.6% over
the month of July 2012. Dwelling values are down -0.6% over the first
seven months of 2012 and down -2.4% over the twelve months to July 2012. Home values remain -5.9% below their historic highs
across the combined capitals with falls from the peak ranging from
-11.5% in Brisbane to -2.9% in Sydney.
·
Looking at value movements across broad price
segments in the market to June 2012, the premium housing market is
recording the largest falls (down -3.4% over the year) while the broad
‘middle market’ has been the most resilient
with values falling by -2.0% and the most affordable suburbs have
recorded value falls of -2.9%.
Sales activity showed a slight improvement in
May however, there has been no significant improvement to date despite
recent interest rate cuts
·
Estimated sales volumes are currently -14% below
the five year average nationally and -13% lower across the combined
capital cities
·
Compared to volumes in May 2011, sales volumes are currently -4% lower nationally and across the capital cities.
Rents continue to improve in certain areas and across specific product types while yields continue to trend upwards
·
Capital city house and rents have increased by 3.0% over the 12 months to July 2012
·
Gross rental yields for houses have improved from
4.0% last July to 4.2% currently and for units they have increased to
4.9% from 4.6% last year.
Vendor discount levels and time on market are trending lower but remain at elevated levels
·
Based on private treaty sales, it took an average
of 60 days to sell a house in the capital cities in June 2012 compared
to 68 days at the same time last year.
·
Vendors are now providing an average discount of
-7.2% from their initial listings price, at the same time last year the
average vendor discount across the capital cities was recorded at -7.6%
The number of homes for sale has been easing however, on an historical basis they remain at quite high levels
·
RP Data is tracking around 296,000 unique houses
and units that are available for sale across Australia; that’s about 9%
higher than at the same time last year.
·
New listings are actually -14% lower than at the same time last year.
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More than half of the total listings are located in the non capital city markets despite the fact that only 35% of sales take place in these locations.
Economic data flows remain mixed
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Headline inflation is at 1.2% and core inflation is at 2.0% and trending lower.
·
The Australian economy grew by 4.3% over the first quarter of 2012.
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The unemployment rate increased from 5.1% in May to 5.2% in June.
·
Consumer confidence for July 2012 showed that
optimism was outweighed by pessimism however, the Index increased by
3.7% over the month.
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First home buyers accounted for 17.8% of all owner occupier finance commitments over the month.
·
Overall housing finance (ex-refi’s) are up 2.8% over the year while refinance commitments are up 7.5% over the year.
·
Private sector housing credit continues to grow at record low levels of just 5.1% over the 12 months to June 2012.
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Dwelling approvals were up 10.2% in June 2012 compared to volumes a year earlier.