Sydney, Melbourne House Prices Drop; Regional Surge

0:00It's March 31st. Welcome to Sydney News Today, powered by AI. I'm Cory with the story. House prices in Sydney and Melbourne just dropped for the second month straight. New numbers from Core Logic show Sydney values fell 0.3% in March, while Melbourne saw a bigger dip of 0.6%. Year to date, that's down 0.6% in Sydney and 0.9% in Melbourne with annual growth now at just 5.3%. Percent and 4% respectively. Meanwhile, it's a hot market elsewhere. Perth House values shot up 2.5% last month, hitting 24.1% growth over the year, with mediums at 1 million. $60,000. Brisbane climbed 1.7% for 18.5% annual gains, and Adelaide rose 1.2% nearing 1 million. Dollars. Buyers are pulling back because sky high prices and inflation are shutting folks out, plus more homes on the market mean less bidding frenzy. Option clearances are

1:01down, sales over 3 months are below last year, and 5.6% off the 5-year average. Experts point to slowing demand, amid rising rates, and even war tensions, boosting inflation. Population growth in these big cities is also cooling off big time, the lowest since pandemic lows. Melbourne added 105,000 residents last year, down over 37,000 from before, mostly from overseas migration. Sydney gained 75,000, nearly half of prior peaks. Perth's exploding in percentage terms, adding 58,000 lately. All this points to a shifting scene where regional spots lag while capitals pull in most folks, 68% of Aussies now. With demand easing, expect house value growth to chill even more across the board.