Numbers collated by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) revealed that dwellings across the capitals have fallen by 1.8 per cent in the three months until 30 June.

ABS head of prices statistics Andrew Tomadini attributed the quarterly decline to the ongoing impact of the COVID-19 crisis on overall transaction activity.  

“The number of residential property transactions fell substantially in the eight capital cities during the June quarter 2020, due to the effects of COVID-19 on the property market,” he said.

Melbourne recorded the sharpest quarterly decline (2.3 per cent), followed by Sydney (2.2 per cent), Darwin (1.4 per cent), Brisbane (0.9 per cent), Adelaide (0.8 per cent), Perth (0.7 per cent) and Hobart (0.4 per cent).

Canberra was the only capital city to record an increase in residential property prices over the June quarter, up 0.8 per cent.

According to data released by CoreLogic, house prices in the next quarter will fall.

CoreLogic has revealed that over the first two months of the September quarter, prices have fallen in the capital cities by 1.3 per cent in July (0.8 per cent) and August (0.5 per cent).

CoreLogic’s head of research, Tim Lawless, has said that while federal government stimulus and loan repayment holidays have helped soften the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the housing market, conditions would deteriorate further once such measures taper off.

“Considering fiscal stimulus policies are set to reduce at the end of this month and lenders will be conducting six-month check-ins with borrowers taking a repayment holiday, the downside risk to home values remains high,” he said.