How much did house prices by in 2023?

The year of 2023 closed out with a 0.4 per cent increase in December, a “relatively soft” monthly rise in home values.

CoreLogic’s research director Tim Lawless said this was the smallest gain in the national monthly HVI since values began increasing in February 2023.

Mr Lawless added the two rate hikes seen in June and November, along with worsening affordability challenges, increased advertised stock levels, and low consumer sentiment, have “progressively taken some heat out of the market through the second half of the year” after home value growth peaked in May 2023 at 1.3 per cent.

The latest CoreLogic HVI reported that 2023 was “punctuated by diversity” despite the 8.1 per cent annual increase. Annual changes in housing values ranged from a 15.2 per cent surge in Perth, to a 1.6 per cent decrease across regional Victoria.

“Such diversity across the capital cities can be broadly attributed to factors relating to demand and supply,” Mr Lawless said.

“In Perth, Adelaide, and Brisbane, housing affordability challenges haven’t been as pressing relative to the larger cities and advertised supply levels have remained persistently and substantially below average.

“The cities where home value growth has been lower or negative through the year are showing higher than average levels of advertised supply alongside annual home sales, which ended the year below the five-year average.”

Meanwhile, according to PropTrack’s Home Price Index, national prices held steady in December. While combined capital city prices fell 0.09 per cent in December (the first time prices declined in 2023), this was counteracted by growth in regional areas, which rose 0.23 per cent.

Capital city prices fell in Sydney (0.08 per cent), Melbourne (0.55 per cent), Hobart (0.41 per cent), and Canberra (0.66 per cent) during December, however, Perth and Adelaide continued to record growth at 0.69 per cent and 0.59 per cent, respectively.

Prices also rose in Brisbane (0.27 per cent) and Darwin (0.1 per cent) in December.

Over the course of 2023, prices rose 5.52 per cent according to PropTrack’s index.

PropTrack economist Anne Flaherty said there were several factors at play that contributed to home price slowdown over the final quarter of 2023.

“There was an additional interest rate rise as well as an increase in the supply of homes listed for sale, which provided buyers more choice and helped to alleviate competition,” Ms Flaherty said.

“Despite the cooldown in capital city prices seen over December, prices in 2024 will be supported by population growth and what looks likely to be a more stable interest rate environment.”

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