Australian house prices have taken their biggest quarterly fall in five years, a survey showed on Saturday, in another sign that high interest rates are reining in an economy that has been riding high on commodities exports.
The central bank has raised rates four times since August in a bid to curb core inflation, which shot to a 17-year high of 4.2 percent in the first quarter. Its cash rate is 7.25 percent, a 12-year high, and some economists see it going higher still.
Median house prices fell 2.7 percent between the December and March quarters to A$458,488 ($440,800), according to the survey by the Real Estate Institute of Australia and Mortgage Choice.
Institute president Noel Dyett said the fall in prices was unsurprising but noted that houses were actually no more affordable, given that the cost of finance was rising. Over the 12 months to the March quarter, Australian median house prices were still up 8.3 percent, the survey showed.
Comments
Comments are closed.