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BRISBANE’S residential property market has defied a national decline in home values, the latest figures show.
The RP Data-Rismark Home Value Index fell 1.4 per cent in May, with the largest drops recorded in Melbourne (-2.7 per cent) and Darwin (-2.5 per cent). However, Brisbane remained steady at -0.3 per cent – the second strongest performing capital city behind Adelaide (up 1.7 per cent).
The results came after the Reserve Bank of Australia Board cut the base interest rate by 50 basis points to 3.75 per cent.
“Each of the key vendor metrics we analysed have improved over the month. Vendor discounting has reduced from a peak of -7.9 per cent to -7.1 per cent, which suggests that vendors are becoming more realistic about price expectations on their home,” says RP Data research director Tim Lawless.
The average number of days required to sell a typical capital city house dwindled from 70 to 63 days. Auction clearance rates levelled around the 50 per cent mark compared to an average 45 per cent throughout the second half of 2011.
An estimated 308,500 homes were advertised for sale across the nation, almost 9 per cent higher than at the same time last year.
Lawless reveals this figure is higher than the usual number of homes for sale when transaction volumes are significantly below their five-year average.
However, the data was not as favourable for the luxury property market.
“Premium dwelling values have fallen by 6.1 per cent over the 12 months ending April 2012, while dwelling values at the affordable end of the spectrum were down by just 1.5 per cent,” says Lawless.
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