More Sydney suburbs drop below $1m median price

Suburbs with high values record significant declines

Australia’s housing downturn persists with about 12 suburbs in Sydney having seen their median home prices plunging below AUD1 million last year, Domain is reporting.

About half of Sydney suburbs now have a median below AUD1.06 million (USD767,100), the Australian property portal noted.

“The higher end of the market tends to lead when it comes to price declines,” said Domain research analyst Eliza Owen. “Suburbs with higher values have had more significant declines, which have put them under the million dollar threshold.”

Among neighbourhoods that took the biggest hits was Mosman, whose median housing price deprecated by more than AUD150,000 to AUD968,500 in the year to December.

Engadine also saw its median descend from AUD1.032 million to AUD892,500 for a staggering year-on-year drop of 13.60 percent.

“We’ve been reporting a AUD1 million median since 2015. I think buyers had a real acceptance of that million dollar mark,” said Owen.

“[But] they might be more hopeful as more suburbs fall below a million dollar median sales price, however it’s still quite expensive.”

The depreciating markets were situated mostly 20 kilometres or more from the city centre. Most areas to fall below the price threshold were in the city’s south and Canterbury Bankstown area.

Sydney home prices have been down 11.4 percent from a peak in mid-2017, with AMP Capital predicting a fall of 25 percent peak to trough this year.