The January Home Value Index report by independent property data and analytics provider CoreLogic said houses were down 0.1 per cent nationwide in December.
“CoreLogic’s Home Value Index ended the year on a negative note, with values down 0.1 per cent nationally over the month after peaking in October and holding flat in November,” the report said.
Looking at annual change, the capital city with the highest growth was Perth with 19.1 per cent.
At the other end of the spectrum, property values in Melbourne fell three per cent.
Looking at the change in dwelling value since the onset of COVID-19, Melbourne had the smallest increase of 8.4 per cent and regional Victoria had an increase of 30.6 per cent.
For comparison, Perth and regional Western Australia had an increase of 77 and 74.3 per cent, respectively, and Adelaide and regional South Australia had an increase of 72.1 and 70.2 per cent, respectively.
However, when specifically looking at value changes in 2024, regional Victoria doesn’t seem to do as well.
“Like the capital cities, regional value growth was dominated by the regional areas of WA, 16.1 per cent, SA, 12.5 per cent, and Qld, 10.5 per cent,” the report said.
“At the other end of the spectrum, regional Victoria and the NT were the only ‘rest of state’ markets to record a decline in values through 2024, down 2.7 per cent and 4.7 per cent, respectively.”
Generally, comparing regional to metro house value increase, NSW, Victoria, Queensland and Tasmania all had higher increase in regional areas and South Australia, Northern Territory and Western Australia had higher increase in capital cities.
“Regional housing markets finished the year on a stronger note, with values up 6.0 per cent over the year, compared with a 4.5 per cent rise across the combined capital index,” the report said.
Zeroing in on regional Victoria, Mildura had the highest 12-month value increase at 6.7 per cent, with Shepparton coming in second with a 3.4 per cent increase.
Both towns have a similar median house price, with Mildura recording a figure of $444,407 and Shepparton, $465,122.
In terms of gross rental yields, regional rentals across the country have been consistently about one per cent higher than capital cities across the past 10 years, with regional rental yield currently sitting at 4.37 per cent and cities at 3.49 per cent.
“Rental affordability is also likely to remain a key challenge leading into 2025, with CoreLogic’s latest metrics showing a record level of rental ‘unaffordability’, with the median rent consuming a third of the median household income in September,” the report said.
To read the full report, head to CoreLogic’s website.