CoreLogic’s national Home Value Index (HVI) posted a 0.6% gain in February, the 17th consecutive monthly increase in the national HVI. 

While housing values are generally rising, the pace of growth in the national index has trended downwards since April last year.

February’s growth of 0.6% marks the lowest monthly growth reading since October 2020 and is down from 1.1% in January and a cyclical peak of 2.8% in March 2021.

Every capital city and broad ‘rest of state’ region is now recording a slowing trend in value growth, albeit with significant diversity.

Sydney and Melbourne have shown the sharpest slowdown, with Sydney (-0.1%) posting the first decline in housing values since September 2020, while Melbourne housing values (0.0%) were unchanged over the month, following similar results in December (- 0.1%) and January (+0.2%).

Conditions are easing less noticeably across the smaller capitals, especially Brisbane, Adelaide, and Hobart, where housing values rose by more than 1% in February.

Similarly, regional markets have been somewhat insulated to slowing growth conditions, with five of the six rest-of-state regions continuing to record monthly gains in excess of 1.2%.

The stronger housing market conditions in Brisbane and Adelaide can be seen in the quarterly growth figures, with Brisbane housing values rising 7.2% over the past three months to February, while Adelaide is up 6.4% over the same period.

At the other end of the capital city growth spectrum, Melbourne’s values are 0.2% higher over the past three months while Sydney’s values have risen by 0.8%.

With the trend in housing values losing pace over the past 11 months, the annual growth trend turned in February.

home values were 20.6% higher over the past 12 months, down from what is likely to be the peak rate of annual growth recorded at 22.4% last month.