Australia's property downturn marks one-year

Australia's property slump has reached the one-year mark as the nation's two major cities have become the biggest drag. National dwelling values dropped 0.5 per cent last month, weighed by declines in Sydney and Melbourne, according to Core Logic data released on Monday. Prices in the two east coast cities, which make up more than half of the national value of housing, have fallen 6.1 per cent and 3.4 per cent respectively from a year earlier. "Sydney and Melbourne are now the primary drag on the national housing market performance," taking over from regions that were impacted by the mining downturn, CoreLogic's head of research Tim Lawless said. Values have fallen greatest among the most expensive properties as lenders curb their appetite for high debt to income ratio lending, he added. Dwelling values in Australia have fallen for 12 straight months, down 2.7 per cent from the peak in September last year as tougher credit rules, increased supply and subdued wage growth combine to put an end to Australia's housing boom.