Hobart home values fell 0.2% in August, according to new figures from property analytics firm Cotality.
The fall left Hobart 1.1% below its peak, which was reached in March 2022. Regional Tasmania values dropped 0.1% for the month.
Nationally, home values fell 0.9% in August – the fifth month of decline in a row – leaving them 3.6% below their March peak.
Sydney recorded the largest monthly fall of the capitals at 1.4%, followed by Melbourne and Canberra at 1.1% and Brisbane at 1%.
Darwin was the only capital to record a rise, up 0.6%.
Over the year, Hobart values rose 8.1% to a median of $752,397. Regional Tasmania values rose 12.7% to $616,076.
Regional Tasmania values are up 120.8% over the past decade, the largest increase of any region in the country.
Burnie-Ulverstone recorded the largest annual rise of any regional Tasmanian area at 15.2%, to a median of $578,979. Launceston rose 14.9%.
Within Hobart, the city’s north-west recorded the largest annual rise at 13.9%, to $662,479. Brighton rose 13.1%.
Cotality research director Tim Lawless said the downturn had spread beyond higher-value markets.
“What started as a more concentrated easing across higher-value segments has now become a much more generalised softening, with the vast majority of capital city suburbs recording some level of decline,” he said.
Lawless said home sales were tracking 15.5% below the same time last year.
“Longer selling times, larger vendor discounting and persistently low auction clearance rates all point to a buyer’s market, yet buyers are lacking the confidence to transact at the moment,” he said.
Hobart’s gross rental yield is 4.4%, among the highest of the capital cities.
Lawless said the market was likely to remain under pressure in coming months, citing the chance of another interest rate rise and cost-of-living pressures.
He said low housing supply and support for first home buyers should help limit the size of the falls.
