Sydney recorded a second month of lower home values during December

According to the CoreLogic RP Data Home Value Index, the Sydney housing market has seen a 1.2% drop in average home values during the month of December.

Adelaide and Canberra also saw a decline in values, by 1.5% and 1.1% respectively. Other capital cities saw slight increases from a 1.0% rise in Melbourne to 2.3% in Perth, keeping the market relatively flat overall.

The market has largely been rising since 2012, when values declined by 0.4% over the year. The last half of 2015 has seen a slowdown beginning in the market, with the decrease of 1.4% this December quarter marking the largest quarter fall since December 2011. The largest quarterly falls were in Sydney, with housing values down by 2.3%, followed by Melbourne at 1.9%. Although CoreLogic data from throughout 2015 showed a 7.8% increase in capital city housing values, this is actually the lowest rate of annual capital gain since 2012.

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Despite this, the Sydney and Melbourne housing markets have still recorded the strongest annual gains out of all Australian capital cities, with 11.5% and 11.2% respectively.

While this is good news for homeowners, who in Sydney saw approximately $82,000 added to the value of their homes, for those 86% of Australians looking to find their dream home, it can be a financial stretch. Of this 86%, nearly half are still in the pursuit of their dream home, while 26% already have it and just over that number at 29% have given up on finding it all together.

<<Update>> Results of the 12th annual Demographia International Housing Affordability Survey just in this week have shown Sydney to be the second least affordable city in the world to live in after Hong Kong. It reads:

"Sydney’s increase of 2.4 points from its 9.8 Median Multiple in 2014 is the largest year-to-year deterioration ever indicated in the 12 years of [this] Survey."

Head of home loans at ME Bank, Patrick Nolan, says that “The unfortunate reality is housing prices have more than doubled in the last 15 years due to population growth, an undersupply of new housing, and an extended period of lower interest rates and greater access to credit, pushing the dream home beyond the reach of many Australians.”

Looking to buy your dream home? Check out Mozo’s home loan comparison calculator to help you find a home loan to suit you, or check out our handy guides.