Median dwelling values rose 2.8% in June quarter: ABS

The latest data on the Total Value of Dwellings released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) has found that the mean price of residential dwellings rose by 2.8 per cent in the June quarter of 2023, up by $25,200 to $912,700.

The total value of dwellings rose in all states and territories, most notably in NSW and Queensland, according to the ABS.

NSW values increased the most in the country, up by approximately 3.6 per cent in the quarter, followed by Queensland at 3.4 per cent, South Australia at 3.2 per cent, Western Australia at 2.8 per cent, Victoria at 1.4 per cent, Northern Territory at 0.85 per cent, ACT at 0.69 per cent, and Tasmania at 0.18 per cent.

In terms of mean price of residential dwellings, NSW was once again the highest among the states, with a mean price of $1,167,500, followed by ACT ($947,900), Victoria ($904,800), Queensland ($781,600), South Australia ($684,700), Western Australia ($671,000), Tasmania ($662,200), and Northern Territory ($512,700).

The ABS further revealed that the total number of residential dwellings in Australia rose by 52,000 to 11,020,300, and the mean price of residential dwellings rose by $8,500 to $896,000.

Furthermore, the preliminary estimate of the total value of residential dwellings in Australia for the quarter was $10 trillion, up $325 billion from $9.7 trillion in the March 2023 quarter.

Households owned $9.69 trillion of the total value of residential dwellings, according to the ABS.

Shaky outlook on residential housing market

Similarly, CoreLogic recently reported that the value of residential housing in Australia surpassed the $10 trillion mark for the second time in August after six months of house price growth.

However, CoreLogic’s head of residential research, Eliza Owen, noted that house prices were “likely to flatten out towards the end of the year” and suggested that market outlook was still uncertain despite growing belief that the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) has completed its cash rate hiking cycle.

Although the RBA has held the cash rate steady for three consecutive months, borrowing capacity still remains “constrained by a relatively high serviceability buffer”, Ms Owen said.

Ms Owen commented: “APRA [Australian Prudential Regulation Authority] data to June showed the weighted average home loan assessment rate was just below 9 per cent, and ABS housing lending data shows mortgage lending has fallen for three of the past four months.

“Economic performance is also set to unwind, and while this is good news for the inflation and cash rate trajectory, a rise in unemployment may create a higher degree of risk for mortgage serviceability.”

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