Monthly Property News 5th Edition 2024.
“Building approvals rise following a decade low”
Hi everyone, I’m Jason Mudford from OBrien Corporate with the fifth edition of the property news for 2024.
In the latest Home Price Index released from Corelogic, the median prices in Melbourne slipped slightly by 0.1% in April, following a similar March result where we saw a 0.0% change, where no appreciation nor depreciation in values occurred. Across all other capital cities within Australia, we saw each state and territory increasing in value with a national increase across the board of 0.6%.
In April, we saw roughly an extra 100 auctions occur in Melbourne as opposed to April 2023. Over the course of the four weekends in April, the REIV reported 2,605 auctions, with 1,903 of them selling, recording an average clearance rate of 78.75%, which is a slight improvement on our March clearance rate.
The auction clearance rates we are seeing are strong results considering the level of property coming onto the market has been approximately 2% higher so far in 2024 compared to 2023. Now that we are in May, we are starting to see stock levels diminish as we head into winter. However, for a seller, it is a smart time to consider selling because buyers will have less housing stock to choose from, giving the seller an opportunity to capture more buyer interest in their home. We all know that population growth is strong, meaning buyer demand is there, and we envisage it being a better time to sell in the winter than in a traditional spring market.
Don’t be fooled by the media reports of potential higher interest rates. The Reserve Bank meets on the 7th of May and because of the continued downward pressure on inflation, they are very much expected to hold rates and hold them for the remainder of this year. Most economists expect the first opportunity for a cut in interest rates will be in November later this year, with some now saying the cut will occur in 2025.
In some encouraging news for buyers and renters finding it hard due to a lack of choice and housing supply in the market, building approvals increased in March, which is a first for some time. This week’s report for the ABS revealed dwelling approvals nationally increased 1.9%, with Victoria increasing 3.2%, which was the strongest growth of the 5 major capital cities by some way. In fact, Victoria captured just over 30% of the approvals across the nation.
That’s all for this month. Remember, the information provided is of a general nature; you should always seek independent legal, financial, taxation or other advice in relation to your unique circumstances.
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