CoreLogic's February home value index shows Canberra's house price growth slowing

The February home value index, published on Tuesday, shows Canberra's overall dwelling values - combining houses and units - grew 0.4 per cent in February, compared with 1.7 per cent in January.

Housing values in Canberra grew just 0.3 per cent, compared with 1.8 per cent in January, taking the median house value to $1,031,410.

Meanwhile, units continue to outpace houses in the capital. Unit values grew 1 per cent in February, compared with 1.3 per cent in January, bringing the median unit value to $602,475.

The slower rates of monthly growth has brought Canberra's quarterly growth rate down as well. Quarterly housing growth was 2.7 per cent, compared with 3.2 per cent in the previous report.

Canberra units grew 4.4 per cent over the past three months, compared with 5.6 per cent in the previous report.

Rental yield across all Canberra dwelling types remained unchanged from last month, at 3.8 per cent.

CoreLogic director of research Tim Lawless said every capital city is experiencing an easing in value growth, albeit at varying degrees.

"Sydney and Melbourne have shown the sharpest slowdown, with Sydney (-0.1 per cent) posting the first decline in housing values since September 2020, while Melbourne housing values (0.0 per cent) were unchanged over the month, following similar results in December (-0.1 per cent) and January (+0.2 per cent)," he said.

As housing growth continues to lose steam across the country, the February report shows the national growth trend has turned.

National dwelling values were up 20.6 per cent over the past 12 months, down from what Mr Lawless predicted to be the peak rate of annual growth recorded at 22.4 per cent last month.

He said national housing values have been losing pace over the past 11 months.

"The slower growth conditions in Australian housing values goes well beyond the rising expectation of interest rate hikes later this year," Mr Lawless said.

"The pace of growth in housing values started to ease in April last year, when fixed-term mortgage rates began to face upwards pressure, fiscal support was expiring and housing affordability was becoming more stretched.

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"With rising global uncertainty and the potential for weaker consumer sentiment amidst tighter monetary policy settings, the downside risk for housing markets has become more pronounced in recent months."

While downside risks are growing, the report noted factors such as open domestic and international borders and a lift in migration should help insulate the market from a sudden downturn.

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