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After slowing down in the last two months, the growth in Australian dwelling values regained momentum in August.

CoreLogic’s latest Hedonic Home Value Index marked a sixth consecutive monthly rise as dwelling values increased 0.8% in August, a slight acceleration from the 0.7% increase in July.

Over the month, Australia’s median dwelling value was at $732,886.

Since bottoming out in February, the national index is now up 4.9%, which reflects around $34,300 increase to the median dwelling value.

Sydney led the recovery trend to-date, with a growth of 8.8% from its lowest point in the cycle in January.

Brisbane has also posted a strong recovery with values up 6.2% since bottoming out in February.

CoreLogic research director Tim Lawless said while the trend in housing values is generally positive, it remained diverse.

“At the other end of the scale, some other capital cities are better described as flat, with Hobart home values unchanged since stabilising in April, while values across the ACT have risen only mildly, up 1.0% since a trough in April,” Mr Lawless said.

Canberra and Hobart were the only two capital cities where advertised supply is tracking higher than a year ago.

“This suggests that a rebalancing between buyers and sellers is a key factor contributing to the stability of values in these regions,” he said.

Below are the median dwelling values of each capital city in August:

Over the month, house values posted a stronger recovery trend versus units.  The combined capital cities house values were up 6.3% since bottoming out in February, compared with a 4.9% increase in the unit segment.

The more substantial increases in house values followed a larger decline during the previous downturn, with house values falling by 10.7%, compared to a 6.5% drop in unit values.

“Most cities are showing a larger rise in house values compared with units; however Sydney stands out with the most significant difference through the recovery cycle to-date, possibly due to the more substantial decline in house values which fell by 15.0% through the recent downturn,” Mr Lawless said.

Meanwhile, regional markets delivered varied performance over the month. In fact, values across the non-capital city regions of New South Wales and Victoria went down slightly while those in Queensland and South Australia rose.

Mr Lawless said the normalisation of internal migration trends across regional Australia and the less demand-side pressures from net overseas migration were causing the less stellar recovery in the regions.

“Historic migration data from the ABS shows that prior to the pandemic, regional Australia had only accounted for around 15% of total net overseas migration,” he said.

“Housing values across the combined regional areas of Australia are up 1.6% since a trough in February, compared with a larger 6.0% rise in values across the combined capitals.”

Buying a home or looking to refinance? The table below features home loans with some of the lowest interest rates on the market for owner occupiers.

Update resultsUpdate
LenderHome LoanInterest Rate Comparison Rate* Monthly Repayment Repayment type Rate Type Offset Redraw Ongoing Fees Upfront Fees Max LVR Lump Sum Repayment Additional Repayments Split Loan Option TagsFeaturesLinkComparePromoted ProductDisclosure
6.04% p.a.
6.06% p.a.
$3,011
Principal & Interest
Variable
$0
$530
90%
4.6 STAR CUSTOMER RATINGS
  • Low rates for purchase and refinancing
  • Simple online application process
  • No fees, unlimited redraws, 0.10% offset
Disclosure
5.99% p.a.
5.90% p.a.
$2,995
Principal & Interest
Variable
$0
$0
80%
  • A low-rate variable home loan from a 100% online lender. Backed by the Commonwealth Bank.
Disclosure
6.14% p.a.
6.16% p.a.
$3,043
Principal & Interest
Variable
$0
$350
60%
Important Information and Comparison Rate Warning

Base criteria of: a $400,000 loan amount, variable, fixed, principal and interest (P&I) home loans with an LVR (loan-to-value) ratio of at least 80%. However, the ‘Compare Home Loans’ table allows for calculations to be made on variables as selected and input by the user. Some products will be marked as promoted, featured or sponsored and may appear prominently in the tables regardless of their attributes. All products will list the LVR with the product and rate which are clearly published on the product provider’s website. Monthly repayments, once the base criteria are altered by the user, will be based on the selected products’ advertised rates and determined by the loan amount, repayment type, loan term and LVR as input by the user/you. *The Comparison rate is based on a $150,000 loan over 25 years. Warning: this comparison rate is true only for this example and may not include all fees and charges. Different terms, fees or other loan amounts might result in a different comparison rate. Rates correct as of .

Important Information and Comparison Rate Warning

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Photo by Andrii Yalanskyi on Canva.