Sydney’s housing prices have reignited, growing at over 18 per cent last year — the fastest pace in 15 years, according to researcher CoreLogic.
Last year’s interest rate cuts lit a fire under housing markets across the capital cities with prices rising 11.7 per cent, the highest annual growth rate since the upturn began.
“The annual growth rate across the combined capitals hasn’t been this strong since the 12 months ending June 2010,” according to CoreLogic head of research Tim Lawless.
“In Sydney, where the annual rate of growth is now 18.4 per cent, this is the highest annual growth rate since the 12 months ending December 2002 when the housing boom of the early 2000s started to slow,” Mr Lawless said.
Canberra turned in the biggest price jump during February, up 3.2 per cent, Sydney’s prices increased 2.6 per cent for the month, Melbourne was up 1.5 per cent and Hobart’s prices rose 1 per cent.
The mining downturn continued to bite in Darwin, where prices fell 4.3 per cent in February. Perth values were down 2.4 per cent and Brisbane’s housing price dropped 0.4 per cent for the month.
Mr Lawless said the while Sydney’s rising housing prices had provided a wealth boost for homeowners, for first home buyers and lower income earners owning a home was increasingly out of reach.
“Affordability challenges are most pronounced across Sydney’s housing market where, based on September 2016 data, dwelling prices are almost 8.5 times higher than gross household incomes.”
Melbourne followed with a price to income ratio of 7.1, he said.
Article by: www.theaustralian.com (Turi Condon)
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/property/sydney-house-prices-fire-up-again-with-fastest-pace-of-growth-since-2002/news-story/4ec108655574048a301de0782f7d59c4