The majority of houses sold in Australia in the year to August sold for less than $600,000, according to new RP Data Property Pulse figures.
Properties that sold for between $200,000 and $400,000 accounted for the largest number of sales, 41.2%, while sales between $400,000 and $600,000 accounted for a further 30.4%.
RP Data research analyst Cameron Kusher says that over the past year almost half of all house and unit sales in Australia were transacted at prices less than $400,000, while only 5.4% sold for more than $1m.
Throughout Australia, 48.3% of all homes sold were at prices below $400,000. However, within the combined capital cities, that number fell down to 37.2%.
Kusher says sales over $1m accounted for only 5.4% of all sales compared to 7.1% of sales at prices below $200,000.
In capital city markets, home sales at prices in excess of $1m account for just 7.4%, much higher than in other parts of the country. Capital city sales of homes under $200,000 (2.7%) are significantly lower than the figure across the rest of Australia (7.1%).
Australia’s two cheapest cities, Adelaide and Hobart, had the greatest proportion of homes sold for less than $200,000 at 6.3% and 12.9% respectively. Canberra, with very few cheap housing options under $200,000 recorded just 1.0% in sales, while Melbourne and Perth both recorded 1.9%.
In Sydney, Melbourne, Perth, Darwin and Canberra, the greatest proportion of sales over the year have been for properties priced between $400,000 and $600,000. Within the remaining cities, homes priced between $200,000 and $400,000 have accounted for the largest proportion of sales.
Kusher says that the regions which have the lowest proportion of home sales below $400,000 are typically either capital city markets, coastal or linked to the mining and resources sector. Most of which have much higher population bases and therefore relatively strong demand for housing.
“The good news is that across most regions at least 30% of home sales over the past year have been at prices below $400,000, highlighting there remains opportunities for price sensitive purchasers.”
