Narrowing Price Growth Gap Signals Changing Real Estate Market Trends
Buyers are steadily shifting their attention from houses to units.
In April, median prices rose 10.4% in annual terms for units and 18.6% for houses, according to CoreLogic – a difference of 8.2 percentage points.
While that gap is large, it’s not as large as it was in January, when prices rose 14.3% for units and 24.8% for houses – a difference of 10.5 percentage points.
By the end of April, Australia’s median house price had reached $819,000. For some buyers, that is just too high. By contrast, the median unit price, while still high, is just $620,000.
As property prices continue to rise, it’s likely more buyers will shift from houses to units, which would lead to a further narrowing in the price growth differential. It’s even possible that, at some point, unit price growth will overtake house price growth.