Global House Price CrashAustralian Property and Economic News

Industry reassurances about the market ‘merely doing its thing’ kind of remind me of that skit about the flight attendant:
Terrified Passenger: excuse me, I think we just lost a wing!
Flight Attendant (strapping on parachute) oh, that’s just part of normal procedure! We’re just lightening the aircraft for landing!

Those looking to purchase overseas property in Australia may be interested to learn that Melbourne’s property market looks set to have been one of the best performing markets over the last 12 months, according to an expert.

Matthew Bell, an economist for Australian Property Monitors, claimed that Melbourne saw the average house price rise by more than 25 per cent over the year to March 2010, reports the Sydney Morning Herald.

Such a rise would make Melbourne one of the world’s most successfully-performing property markets in the last year.

Mr Bell pointed out that rises in average housing prices indicated a shift in the types of houses being sold and an increase in housing value.

He believes that Melbourne’s suburbs have seen an increase in properties being bought at the top end of the market during the most recent 12 month period.

Last week, it was reported by the Sydney Morning Herald that low interest rates across Australia had ensured the country’s housing market had remained strong during a time were many other countries had seen their property values struggle.

Tumbleweeds, mutant virus transformed zombies, gun toting vigilantes. Its the post bubble wasteland.

…no surprises here. But now it is official.

The property prices in some parts of Australia may be close to peaking, indicating that prices are set to fall.

Downward pressure is likely to be placed on areas of the country due to a dramatic increase in the number of houses coming on to the market, A Place in the Sun reported.

In the past year, a double-digit rise in residential prices has meant that some would-be buyers hoping to emigrate from the UK to Australia have been unable to afford property there.

However, if Australian property prices were to fall and housing stock for sale increase this would open up more choice for homebuyers.

According to advisory and forecasting firm SQM Research, around 35,000 homes in Melbourne will be advertised for sale in December.

The Economist magazine’s latest survey of global housing reported that Australian property was overvalued by 61 per cent based on the current ratio of house prices-to-rents and historic ratios.