Prices in the country’s premium housing market appear to have cooled more than those in the more affordable segment.

In the 12 months to April 2018, property values in the premium category (those priced in the upper 10% of all properties) have been falling versus other price groups that have seen restrained growth over the same period, according to the latest CoreLogic Docile Report.

The premium properties saw a 4.3% decline, while all other sectors logged growth above the 0.2% national average – In April, premium properties were those valued over $1,212,486.  In contrast, those in the most affordable range were priced $256,786 or lower.

“The softening premium property market trend became even more evident when we assessed it from a quarterly basis, with values trending lower across the three most expensive property deciles,” CoreLogic research analyst Cameron Kusher said.

“By contrast, the more affordable decile ranges remained in subtle growth over the past three months, and it was the most affordable 10% of properties that recorded the greatest quarterly value increase, up 1.6%. This data highlights how weakness across the most expensive property values can exacerbate weakness across the broader housing market,” Kusher added.

The analyst identified Brisbane, Melbourne, and Sydney as the markets where the affordable end of the market is the strongest, while Perth showed the best performance in the premium end. Adelaide is demonstrating good strength in the middle valuation brackets, while Hobart’s growth appears to be very broad-based.

 

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