Australian housing values look to have bottomed out, as values rose 0.5% in April to mark the second consecutive monthly rise.  

New CoreLogic data showed Sydney values led the way, increasing 1.3% last month.  

There was a 0.6% lift in housing values across the country in March following a -9.1% fall between May 2022 and February 2023. 

In further evidence that a positive growth trend has emerged, the four largest capital cities all recorded a rise in housing values over the rolling quarter.  

CoreLogic’s Research Director, Tim Lawless, said it was becoming increasingly clear the housing market had moved through an inflection point.   

“Not only are we seeing housing values stabilising or rising across most areas of the country, a number of other indicators are confirming the positive shift,” Lawless said.  

“Auction clearance rates are holding slightly above the long run average, sentiment has lifted and home sales are trending around the previous five-year average.”  

The more positive trend in housing values comes amid a worsening imbalance between supply and demand.   

“A significant lift in net overseas migration has run headlong into a lack of housing supply.  While overseas migration would normally have a more direct correlation with rental demand, with vacancy rates holding around 1% in most cities, it’s reasonable to assume more people are fast tracking a purchasing decision simply because they can’t find rental accommodation,” Lawless said. 

“Many prospective vendors have stayed on the sidelines through the downturn, keeping inventory at below average levels and providing sellers with some leverage at the negotiation table.” 

Regional markets were showing greater diversity, however the trend remains one where values are generally stabilising or rising. 

Although housing conditions are looking more positive, values across most regions remain well below their recent cyclical highs.  

It comes as Proptrack figures showed national home prices continued to stabilise in April, rising 0.14%. 

Out of the capitals, price increases were led by Adelaide (+0.41%), Sydney (+0.40%) and Perth (+0.21%).  

Hobart (-0.27%), Canberra (-0.17%) and Melbourne (-0.11%) were the only capitals to see declines. 

Sydney, the market which led the downturn, was now leading the recovery.  

Sydney home prices were up 1.68% year to date, according to Proptrack.  

With the bounce, Melbourne has overtaken Sydney in terms of annual price falls.  

Canberra and Hobart have seen the largest annual declines, while Adelaide is the strongest performer.