Treasurer Scott Morrison said the national housing market has “swung back in favour” of owner-occupiers, as new data revealed it isn’t headed for a crash. 

CoreLogic recently forecasted that the national housing market would slow this year, dragged down by tighter lending restrictions and the wave of unit development under way across the country.

Prices rebounded in Sydney and Melbourne in June, up more than 2% in both capitals, but eased over the quarter to a rise of 0.8% in Sydney and 1.5% in Melbourne.

Morrison welcomed the latest CoreLogic housing data, which showed that capital city dwelling values had increased an average of 1.8% in June and 0.8% over the quarter, the slowest growth since December 2015.

The quarterly increase compares favourably with the 3.8% rise of a year ago, which preceded an uptick in growth. Morrison said the government’s “scalpel” strategy was part of its measured approach to tackling housing pressures in different states.
“The numbers we have seen… have seen a softening, an easing in the markets in Sydney and in Melbourne, and at the same time a glimmer of hope in markets like Perth, which have been doing it pretty tough for some time,” Morrison said on Monday.
 
“We saw an improvement in owner-occupiers getting into the market and we have also seen bank rates on mortgages for principal and interest falling five, six basis points in recognition of the policies and changes that we have been supporting through [the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority].”
 

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