Pricey Areas Lead Property Market for Capital Growth

Australia’s property market could very well be one where the rich are getting richer, with analysis showing the country’s more expensive suburbs recorded the strongest rate of capital growth in the 12 months to March.

According to CoreLogic RP Data’s analysis, over the year to March the median price of home in Australia increased by 6.4%.

Looking deeper at individual price brackets, the most expensive 25% of Australian suburbs saw home prices grow 7% in the past 12 months, while the least expensive 25% of suburbs saw growth of 6.6%.

Over the year, the middle market saw price growth of 6.4%.

There has been some pullback recently though, with the most affordable suburbs performing stronger over the March quarter.

“The annual figures show the most expensive suburbs recorded the strongest value growth over the past 3 months, value rises have been more uniform and with little difference between the broad value-based segments of the market,” CoreLogic RP Data research analyst Cameron Kusher said.

“Across the most affordable suburbs, we’ve seen values move 1.8% higher over the March quarter followed by the most expensive suburbs move by 1.7%, and the middle market suburbs by 1.6%,” Kusher said.

According to Kusher’s analysis, home prices in Sydney grew 7.4% over the year to March 2016, with its most expensive suburbs growing 8.8%, while it’s most affordable areas grew 8%.

The middle market in the harbour city saw values grow 6.6% over the year.

In Melbourne, overall home prices grew 9.8% over the past year, with the middle of the market leading proving the strongest with price growth reaching 10.5%.

Prices in Melbourne’s most expensive suburbs grew 10%, while its most affordable grew 9.7%.

In Brisbane home values increased 4.5% over the past year, with the most affordable suburbs leading the way with growth of 5.7%.

The most expensive suburbs in Brisbane saw growth of 4.6% over the past year compared to a 5.1% rise across the middle of the market.

Over the year home prices in Adelaide grew 3.2%.

The most expensive suburbs saw values rise by 3.2% compared to a 3.1% increase across the middle market and a 2.9% increase across the most affordable suburbs

In Perth, home values declined 2% over the year, with the prices falling 0.5% in the most affordable suburbs and 1.5% across the market’s middle.

Perth’s most expensive suburbs were hit by a 2.1% decline over the year.

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