House prices rise in every major city for the first time since start of coronavirus crisis

Australian house prices have risen in every capital city for the first time since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.

Melbourne‘s median price increased in November for the first time since March following the end of a three-month lockdown, CoreLogic data showed.

Sydney’s median house prices has also risen back above the psychological $1million mark for the first time since July. 

Making matters harder for young Australians, property prices last month rose to a record high in 32 regions with beach-side locations from the Gold Coast to the New South Wales Mid-North Coast making the list.

CoreLogic head of research Tim Lawless said Australian house prices were likely to surpass pre-Covid levels by early 2021 if existing trends continued.

‘If current housing values continue to rise at the current pace we could see a recovery from the COVID downturn as early as January or February next year,’ he said.

The news was released shortly before official Australian Bureau of Statistics data showed private-sector house approvals rose for the fourth straight month to the highest level since February 2000.

The Reserve Bank of Australia on Tuesday also left interest rates at a record-low of 0.1 per cent with almost two-thirds of Australians fearful of missing out on the chance to buy a home.

Sydney saw a 0.9 per cent increase which last month took median house prices to $1,000,170 – the highest level since July.

Apartments in Australia’s biggest city were the only capital city property asset to go backwards, with median prices last month falling by 0.7 per cent to $728,168.

Melbourne’s seven-month streak of declines ended with mid-point house prices rising by 0.6 per cent to $790,543, however values are still five per cent below the peak of early 2020.

Canberra had Australia’s biggest monthly increase of 2.2 per cent taking median house prices in the national capital to $753,005.

Hobart had the biggest monthly state capital price surge of 1.7 per cent, taking median prices to $535,786.

Darwin’s median house prices edged up by 1.6 per cent to $490,881. 

Despite a short-lived lockdown in South Australia, Adelaide’s median house price rose by 1.5 per cent to $498,029.  

Even Perth, long a struggling market after the mining boom, saw its house prices increase by 1.1 per cent to $832,745.

With house prices rising in every capital city for the first time in eight months, 64 per cent of 2,046 Australians surveyed by financial comparison group Canstar expected property prices in their state to either stabilise or increase during the next two years. 

Baby boomers were even more worried about missing out, with 70 per cent of them expecting house price to remain steady or rise. 

At least interest rates aren’t moving, with Reserve Bank governor Philip Lowe promising record-low borrowing costs were here to stay.

‘Given the outlook, the board is not expecting to increase the cash rate for at least 3 years,’ he said.