‘Significant turnaround’ in Australian house prices defies predictions as demand rises

Surging population growth and expectations the RBA may only have one more hike to come have underpinned the rebound in Australian house prices. Photograph: Bianca de Marchi/AAP

A stronger than expected lift in demand over the past two months is nudging property prices higher and delivering the highest auction clearance rates in more than a year, data group CoreLogic says.

If the price rises are maintained for the rest of the year, home values will end up about 4% higher in 2023, defying earlier predictions of sharp falls of 10% or more for this year, CoreLogic says.