Australia’s residential property market has recorded its first quarterly decline in value since 2022, with a $34.1 billion fall driven by weaker property prices in NSW and Victoria.
The value of Australia’s residential property has fallen for the first time in almost four years, with weakness in NSW and Victoria dragging the national housing stock back by $34.1 billion over the June quarter.
New Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) figures show the total value of residential dwellings fell 0.3 per cent from $12.723 trillion in the March quarter to $12.689 trillion in June, marking the first quarterly decline since September 2022.
The fall came despite another 54,400 dwellings being added to the nation’s housing stock during the quarter and interrupted a run of growth that has pushed the total value of Australian residential property 8.5 per cent higher over the past year.
ABS head of finance statistics Dr Mish Tan said softer property prices were behind the quarterly reversal.
“The value of dwelling stock fell for the first time since the September quarter 2022,” Dr Tan said.
“The quarterly fall was driven by lower property prices, with the mean dwelling price falling by 0.7 per cent to $1.1 million. This is consistent with recent softening in housing market conditions.”
The weakness was concentrated in the country’s two largest housing markets, with the total value of residential property in NSW falling 2.0 per cent, or $92.9 billion, while Victoria recorded a 1.6 per cent decline, wiping $44.3 billion from the value of its dwelling stock.
The ACT was the only other jurisdiction to move backwards, recording a 0.7 per cent, or $1.4 billion, fall, while the total value of residential property increased across every other state and territory.
The divide was also reflected in mean dwelling prices, with NSW recording the largest quarterly fall at 2.4 per cent, equivalent to $32,700, followed by Victoria, where the mean price declined 2.1 per cent, or $19,600. The ACT recorded a 1.3 per cent, or $13,300, fall, while mean prices increased across the remaining jurisdictions.
Nationally, the mean dwelling price declined by $8,200 during the quarter to $1,100,400.
The fall in prices came as Australia’s physical housing stock continued to expand, with the addition of 54,400 residential dwellings taking the national total to 11,531,100.
Of the $12.689 trillion worth of residential property across Australia at the end of the June quarter, $12.183 trillion was owned by households.
While the quarterly result marks a reversal for the national market, it comes after a period of substantial growth in housing values, with Australia’s dwelling stock still worth 8.5 per cent more than a year earlier.
The figures also reveal an increasingly uneven national picture, with declining values in NSW and Victoria more than offsetting both the addition of new housing and increases in dwelling values across the rest of the country.