House prices across the country have flatlined, and are falling sharply in Sydney and Melbourne, as the cost-of-living crisis, three interest rate hikes, inflation pressures, proposed changes to negative gearing and capital gains tax and a slowdown in economic growth hit the $12.3 trillion market.
House prices in Sydney and Melbourne fell nearly one per cent during May while Cotality’s National Home Value Index across the country was flat.
House price growth is weakening in most markets, although Perth and Darwin recorded growth of 1.5 per cent last month, highlighting the multi-speed conditions across the capitals.
US chipmaker Micron took only 48 trading days to double in market cap from $US500 billion to $US 1 trillion. According to Bloomberg, that's the fastest on record - and well ahead of the previous record of 82 days, set by Samsung.
Source: Bloomberg
Fear & Greed Q+A today
On the week ahead for the economy, including the March quarter GDP figures out on Wednesday:
"We’re expecting actually a reasonable result. I think a figure around about 0.6% quarter on quarter, which is not bad. The annual figure will be just a little bit below 3%. So the first quarter of 2026 was actually okay in terms of economic growth.
We saw last week too some capex numbers being very strong — data centres again driving that — but hey, that’s real economic activity. So the bottom line GDP numbers are probably going to be okay.
But a little bit like the petrol price effect in March, there was this big boost in spending as people topped up their petrol tanks and filled up jerry cans and the like. So that will probably just add about 0.1 to bottom line GDP that will not be there in the June quarter data.
So these numbers are going to be again a little artificially strong."
We’re working with research agency Fonto to learn more about our community. We’re running a short survey to hear from you – what you love about Fear & Greed, what we could improve on, and more. It only takes a few minutes, and just by taking part, you can enter the draw to win a $3,000 Luxury Escapes voucher.
News in brief
The Aussie dollar pushed back above 72 US cents late last week and is forecast to go even higher against a bunch of currencies, particularly the Euro. That’s on the back of relatively high interest rates and strong commodity prices.
In Canberra, Defence Minister Richard Marles has defended the AUKUS deal after US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth revealed the first three Virginia-class submarines Australia will receive will all be second-hand.
Australia’s domestic spy agency has warned MPs and public officials to mind what they say when riding in cars, especially internet-connected vehicles. The move comes after seven Chinese electric vehicles were added to the list of taxpayer-funded cars available to federal politicians.
The share of payments made directly between bank accounts, using the internet, is on the rise, but still only accounts for four per cent of all payments, while the main payments method – debit cards – is declining.
A former CIA official has been accused of stealing 303 gold bars worth more than $40 million from the spy agency and stashing them in his home, according to a criminal complaint and current and former U.S. officials.
Fear-o-meter
Cotality research director, Tim Lawless:
“This level of diversity [of house price growth] has been a defining feature of housing conditions over the past five years. We are continuing to see multi-speed conditions across Australia’s housing sector, with Perth and Melbourne at opposite ends of the spectrum.
“The past five years have seen these cities diverge sharply, with Perth values up a stunning 91.4 per cent while Melbourne home values are only 3.3 per cent higher since May 2021.
“While the speed of value change remains very different from city to city, the direction is becoming more consistent, with most markets losing momentum as demand-side headwinds intensify.
“This loss of momentum had been building for some time, well before interest rates started to rise, conflict escalated in Iran and taxation changes were announced in the Federal Budget. Most cities recorded a peak in value growth through spring last year as affordability and serviceability constraints increasingly weighed on housing demand.”
Forwarded from a friend? Sign up to our daily newsletter
