PHOTO: John McGrath
Two big questions loom large in the Australian property market this year. What will happen to credit conditions once the Royal Commission into banking is over; and how will the Federal Election affect the market, especially if Labor wins and major changes to tax policy on property investments are introduced?
Latest figures from CoreLogic show most regions across Australia were weakened by the banks’ tighter lending practices in 2018. The effect was magnified in Sydney and Melbourne, where many buyers were unable to purchase at the price level they expected or unable to compete at auction due to longer approval processes.
Property prices and auction clearance rates fell faster than is normal for the first year of a correction, culminating in a -10% dip in house prices in Sydney to a median $918,000 and a -9.1% drop in Melbourne to a median $751,000.
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