House prices in Australia’s eight capital cities slid 3.7 percent in the first 11 months of 2011, says a new report.
Brisbane led the decline, slumping 7 percent in the January-November period, followed by Melbourne, which posted a 5.7 percent retreat, according to figures from RP Data, a real estate researcher.
“The downside risk would come from global weakness affecting the Australian economy,” said David Cannington, a Melbourne-based economist at Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd., with A$161 billion ($164 billion) of mortgages as of November. “The housing market will, broadly speaking, reflect the relative strength or weakness of the Australian economy.”
Home prices dropped 3.5 percent in November from a year earlier after falling 3.9 percent in October, the biggest slide since RP Data began keeping records 12 years ago. Brisbane had the biggest decline last month, down 7 percent, followed by Melbourne with 5.6 percent. The Reserve Bank of Australia cut interest rates for the second straight month on Dec. 6.
The anomalies in house prices across Australia are particularly marked in areas like Western Australia, which have seen soaring house prices on the back of the mining boom.
Want to know more about the cost of living in Australia ? Come to Down Under Live, taking place across the UK in February 2012.
Source: http://www.australiamagazine.co.uk/?p=1086
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