Australian House Prices Rise 0.3% in October

By James Glynn

SYDNEY--Australian house prices posted their 21st monthly rise in succession in October, reflecting weak supply of homes and surging immigration.

CoreLogic's national home value index rose 0.3% in October from September, albeit the biggest markets of Sydney and Melbourne recorded price falls.

The impact of elevated mortgage interest rates is steadily putting a brake on the market, with growth in national home values at 6.0% over the 12 months ending October, down from a peak of 9.7% in February, according to the property research group.

The 0.1% fall in Sydney home values in October was the first monthly decline since January 2023.

The weaker conditions have been led by the most expensive areas of the market, with a 0.6% fall in upper quartile house values over the month and a 1.1% drop over the past three months, the data showed.

In comparison, Sydney's lower quartile house and apartment values both recorded a half a percent rise in values in October, CoreLogic said.

"A combination of less borrowing capacity and broader affordability challenges, as well as a higher-than-average share of investors and first home buyers in the market is the most likely explanation for stronger conditions across the lower value cohorts of the market," said CoreLogic's research director, Tim Lawless.

The past three months have seen the lowest quartile either record a higher growth rate or smaller decline relative to the upper quartile or broad middle of the market across every capital city except Canberra, he added.

Slower growth in home values has been accompanied by a rise in advertised stock levels, the data showed.

Based on a rolling four-week count of listings to Oct. 27, advertised inventory has increased 12.7% since the end of winter across the combined capitals, with the largest increase occurring in Perth where listings are 20.6% higher, albeit from an exceptionally low base.

Write to James Glynn at James.Glynn@wsj.com