Melbourne’s market correction was not as grim as what market watchers thought it would be, according to a report by news.com.au.
Some of the country’s data providers and banks forecast nearly 10% losses to house values in 2018. CoreLogic and National Australia Bank, for instance, predicted losses of about 9.1% to 8%.
However, data from the Valuer-General revealed that the median house values only dropped by 4.9% to $732,500 over the previous year.
Those figures from banks and data firms reflected the indexed values, in which a theoretical figure is applied to all homes in the city regardless of whether they were sold. The Valuer-General’s price-based figures, on the other hand, took into account only those homes that were purchased.
The dreadful expectations did not reflect on the actual market. There were some sellers who did not want to accept losses at the predicted levels in 2018, said Adam Docking, Real Estate Institute of Victoria vice-president.
“(Last year) there were people saying ‘I’m not going to sell my house for that because it was worth more than that last year,’” Docking told news.com.au. “And that’s a good thing. The market generally takes a nosedive when people have to sell.”
South Yarra was posted the worst result in the city, with its $1.6 million median house price having declined by 30.4 % from $2.3 million at the end of 2017.
On the flip side of the coin, Cairnlea rose by 12.5% to $807,500, Botanic Ridge climbed by 10.4% to $751,000, Gisborne jumped by 17.9% to $785,000, and Mt. Martha increased by 16.5% to $1.27 million.
