The performance of home values across capital cities and regional areas varies significantly, indicating a multi-speed market with some areas accelerating and others falling behind.
Over the past few years, three capital cities and three regional areas have experienced notable growth, while other cities and regions have shown modest increases or declines.
Perth has clinched the gold with 22.77% year-on-year growth in July, while Adelaide secured silver at 14.81%, and Brisbane took bronze with 13.93% growth.
Unsurprisingly, the corresponding regional areas have also excelled, with regional WA leading at 15.19% year-on-year growth, followed by regional QLD at 11.20% and regional SA at 10.93%.
Sydney's year-on-year growth of 6.14% was the fourth highest in July, putting it in the middle of the pack.
Melbourne, Hobart, Darwin, and Canberra are still struggling to catch up to the top performers, remaining relatively flat over the past year.
Melbourne home values are still recovering from the most recent downturn and have been unable to claw back the value lost over this time.
Currently, Melbourne values are 0.82% lower year-on-year and lower than the previous peak experienced in March 2022.
Regional Tasmania outperformed Hobart with a 2.18% year-on-year increase in home values.
Drilling down to SA4 regions, it is areas of Perth that have seen the most significant growth in the past 12 months.
Home values in Perth's south west surged 26.83%, followed by the city's north west at 25.31%.
Six of the top ten regions for home price growth in July were in Perth, with three in Queensland and one in Adelaide.
However, not all regions have fared as well. Several regional Victorian areas experienced price decreases over the past year.
| Rank | Region | YoY % growth |
| 1 | Perth - South West | 26.8% |
| 2 | Perth - North West | 25.3% |
| 3 | Perth - South East | 24.2% |
| 4 | Perth - North East | 21.9% |
| 5 | Bunbury | 21.7% |
| 6 | Mandurah | 21.6% |
| 7 | Townsville | 21.5% |
| 8 | Adelaide - North | 19.3% |
| 9 | Ipswich | 17.2% |
| 10 | Central Queensland | 17.1% |
Ballarat, about 100km from Melbourne, had a 4.57% decline in prices, while values in the Mornington Peninsula dropped by 3.90%.
Other Victorian regions like Geelong and Latrobe - Gippsland also experienced declines, highlighting the varying performance across states.
House values are slightly outperforming units at the national level, with 6.51% year-on-year growth compared to 5.16% for units.
However, price growth for houses and units have been similar throughout the past 12 months when compared to the large growth seen for houses during the pandemic when the demand for more space drove many homeowners to upsize.
As the spring selling season approaches, prices are likely to continue rising, although growth rates have been more subdued in 2024 – a trend expected to persist for the rest of the year.
One factor that may increase demand for housing in the coming months is the most recent tax cuts that have boosted household income, along with borrowing capacities, and may be encouraging more buyers into the market.
