Why property price growth is so varied throughout Australia

The Australian property market is growing briskly right now and has grown significantly since the pandemic. But the city-by-city performance has been more varied.

Over the year to May, the national median price rose 8.3%, according to CoreLogic. But at a city level, growth ranged from a staggering 22.0% increase in Perth to a 0.1% decrease in Hobart.

Meanwhile, growth since March 2020 has ranged from a high of 62.6% in Perth to a low of 11.2% in Melbourne.

CoreLogic's head of research, Eliza Owen, attributed the contrasting results to diverse market conditions.

 “The highest-performing markets have generally come off a low base, with housing conditions and demographic trends relatively weak over the years preceding the pandemic,” she said.

“Differences in capital growth trends are marked by the varied supply-demand balances of each city, and in turn migration, affordability factors and dwelling completions influence that supply and demand dynamic.”

Ms Owen said annual growth had started to slow across the combined capital cities. “This could mean a slowdown in growth across Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide is on the horizon, and could see the range of growth eventually narrow across the capital cities,” she added.