Home Value Index reaches record high

CoreLogic’s national Home Value Index (HVI) has revealed that the national dwelling value as of 22 November 2023 reached a record high up 7.7 per cent over the year, with several regions and capital cities also achieving a cyclical high.

The property data company found that Australian dwelling values have regained the losses from the recent downturn (which bottomed out in January 2023), with values having risen 8.1 per cent since then.

CoreLogic’s executive research director Tim Lawless noted that it had taken approximately nine months for the national HVI to move from record highs in April 2022 to the recent trough, but only 10 months to recover from the “short but sharp downturn”.

Mr Lawless stated: “The V-shaped recovery may seem counterintuitive, given high interest rates, deeply pessimistic levels of consumer sentiment, and high cost-of-living pressures, however, the recovery can be explained by an imbalance between supply and demand.

“From a supply perspective, advertised stock levels have held remarkably low through 2023. Although inventory levels are now rebalancing as vendor activity picks up, listings remain 16.6 per cent below the previous five-year average nationally.

“At the same time, demonstrated demand, based on the volume of home sales, is trending roughly in line with the five-year average.”

The bounceback followed Mr Lawless’ prediction last month, when he forecast that the HVI would reach a “new nominal high by the end of November”.

The report revealed that, while the national index reached a record high with a 7.7 per cent increase in dwelling values over the year, the “headline figures hide a growing level of diversity in housing market conditions”.

According to the HVI, Brisbane, Adelaide, and Perth are at record highs (with an increase over the year of 11.3 per cent, 7.7 per cent, and 12.3 per cent, respectively), while other capital cities are not.

Hobart and regional Victoria were the standouts at the other end of the spectrum, with the Tasmanian capital’s home values remaining 11.8 per cent below their peak and regional Victorian values 7 per cent below their peak.

Dwelling values in the nation’s two largest cities, Sydney and Melbourne, remained below their peak by 1.8 per cent and 3.6 per cent, respectively, with Sydney achieving an 11.4 per cent increase over the year and Melbourne a 4.1 per cent increase.

Mr Lawless commented that the nation would likely see more regions return to record high housing values.

He said: “While this is great news for home owners, for those looking to buy, affordability pressures are becoming more pressing amid rising values, high interest rates, and worsening serviceability challenges.

“The good news for prospective buyers is that the pace of growth is clearly easing in some markets as advertised stock levels rise and purchasing demand remains fragile.”

The Australian Bureau of Statistics’ latest data on the total value of dwellings agreed with CoreLogic’s HVI index, having found the mean price of residential homes rose by 2.8 per cent in the June quarter of 2023, up to $912,700.

The mean price of residential dwellings was highest among NSW at $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 the Northern Territory ($512,700).

[Related: Home values expected to reach ‘new record’ in 2023]