“Flat as a pancake”

That’s right, flat as a pancake is what Domain Group senior economist Dr Andrew Wilson is predicting of the property market in regards to price growth over the next decade.

The resources sector is shifting from a construction phase into a production phase employing far fewer people than we have seen in recent times couple this with the international economy not being able to pull its self together Dr Wilson might not be so wrong to predict a much ‘slower’ market in terms of price growth.

Even in the property powerhouse capital of Australia, Sydney, which was up 3.8% in the September quarter and 16.6% in the past year is beginning to show signs of moderation.

Having the stand out economy in the country, strong migration and robust consumer and business confidence played a part in Sydney earning the property title although despite low interest rates, Dr Wilson believes slowing income growth was putting a brake on price growth. “Investors will become less interested in residential property in Sydney and start looking at other asset classes,” he says.

Looking to the Sydney regions over the September quarter, Domain Group said the strongest performers were the upper north shore/north west at 9.3% growth; the inner west at 8.8%; city and east 5.8%; the lower north shore at 5.7% and the northern beaches at 5.2%.

With the September figures released last week showing that apart from Sydney the remainder of the nation’s property market “generally tracked backwards”.

Follow: Subscribe to this post's comments