Australian home prices are falling, where they will end up no one knows, but they could have a way to go given that lending finance figures for March from the Reserve Bank were weak.
The report, from the Australian Bureau of Statistics supports figures from the two major private groups that track home prices.
The weighted average home price in eight capital cities fell 1.7% in the March quarter, compared with the previous three months.
The drop was the biggest since the September quarter of 2008.
From a year earlier, prices were down 0.2%, the ABS reported.
On Friday property information research group RP Data-Rismark said last week that national home prices on a quarterly basis fell 2.1% in the March quarter.
That was the biggest fall since the group started collecting figures back in 1999.
National city home values eased 0.2%, seasonally adjusted, in March, following a flat February. That took the national city median dwelling price to $455,000 in March.
The ABS and RP Data surveys showed falls much bigger in the quarter than the rival Australian Property Monitors.
It said prices fell 0.6% nationally in the March quarter.
According to the ABS, Melbourne and Brisbane led the falls; Melbourne because it had enjoyed the sharpest since in the past three years, Brisbane because of the impact of the January floods.
The fall in Melbourne’s home prices of 2.5% matched flood-hit Brisbane.
In Sydney prices dropped 1.8%, while in Adelaide they slipped 1%.
However, prices rose 0.5% in Perth (after having a weak 2010) and they rose 0.4% in Hobart.
APM said Sydney prices fell marginally, by 0.4%, Melbourne flatlined and Canberra was the only capital city where median house values actually rose in the quarter by just 0.2%.
Other capital cities experienced larger price slumps: Hobart fell 2.3%, Brisbane 2%, Darwin 1.6%, Perth 1.1% and Adelaide prices were off 0.6%.
And RP Data said all capital city median home prices fell, led by Brisbane which saw prices drop 4.6%, followed by Perth, which posted a 3.4% fall.
Melbourne home prices fell 1.5%, while Sydney’s eased 1.1% in the three months to the end of March.
Canberra prices fell 1.3%, Hobart 1.4%, Adelaide 1.6% and Darwin 2.5%.
Over the twelve months ending March 2011, Australian capital city dwelling values were down 0.6%, RP Data said.
In the non-capital city regions the story has been similar.
In the year to end March 2011, ‘Rest of State’ house values were relatively unchanged (-0.5% seasonally adjusted).
However, the March quarter was a weaker one, with house values declining by -1.8% seasonally adjusted.
“Unsurprisingly, the flooding that has occurred within South East Queensland has likely compounded Brisbane’s weak market conditions. Brisbane homes were the worst performers during the March quarter, with values tapering sharply by -4.6 per cent seasonally adjusted (-3.3 per cent raw). Brisbane values are down 6.8 per cent over the year to March 2011,” RP Data said in the release.
