House price index in Australia dropped by 2.4 percent quarter-on-quarter in the three months to December of 2018, further down from a 1.5 percent fall in the previous quarter and compared to market expectations of a 2 percent drop. It was the fourth straight quarter of decline, as prices dropped in six cities: Sydney (-3.7 percent); Melbourne (-2.4 percent); Perth (-1.0 percent); Darwin (-0.6 percent); Canberra (-0.2 percent), and Brisbane (-1.1 percent). In contrast, prices rose in Adelaide (0.1 percent) and Hobart (0.7 percent). On a yearly basis, prices dropped 5.1 percent, after falling 1.9 percent in the prior period and above market consensus of a 0.4 percent decline. Housing Index in Australia averaged 1.55 percent from 2002 until 2018, reaching an all time high of 6.10 percent in the second quarter of 2002 and a record low of -2.20 percent in the third quarter of 2008.
Housing Index in Australia is expected to be -1.50 percent by the end of this quarter, according to Trading Economics global macro models and analysts expectations. Looking forward, we estimate Housing Index in Australia to stand at 0.50 in 12 months time. In the long-term, the Australia House Price Index QoQ is projected to trend around 2.10 percent in 2020, according to our econometric models.