Property price downturn extending beyond Sydney and Melbourne

PHOTO: Tim Lawless says there are about 15 per cent less buyers in the market than there were previously. ABC News: Ian Cutmore

Australian home prices fell a further 0.7 per cent last month and are now down nearly 7 per cent from their peak, as the downturn extends beyond Sydney and Melbourne.

Key points:

Sydney (-10.4pc) and Melbourne (9.1pc) have had the biggest prices falls over the past year
Five of the eight capital cities have had falling prices over the past year, as has regional Australia
CoreLogic’s Tim Lawless says widespread price falls are an indicator that lending restraints are dampening the market

The latest February figures from CoreLogic show Darwin and Perth are once again leading the monthly declines in prices, slumping 1.7 and 1.5 per cent respectively.

Sydney and Melbourne have still suffered the worst fall over the past year, down 10.4 and 9.1 per cent respectively.

Even the Brisbane market, which did not experience the same steep run-up in prices as the other two big capitals on the east coast, has seen prices fall over the month, quarter and past year, although the declines are modest.