Alex Scriven

A new official report reveals house prices surged in the June 2015 quarter in Sydney to post their fastest annual growth yet of 18.9%, while values fell back in Perth and Darwin, with improving affordability in smaller cities expected to draw some first home buyers back in 2016, but million-dollar-plus Sydney prices remaining a big deterrent there, according to Alex Scriven, the head of act – digital at new banking business act.

Data released yesterday by the Australian Bureau Statistics (ABS) show the residential property price index for the weighted average of the eight Australian capital cities rose 4.7% in the June quarter of 2015 from the March quarter and 9.8% from a year earlier.

In Sydney, prices leaped 18.9% from a year earlier, the fastest rate recorded by the ABS for the current series, and 8.9% over the quarter, also the fastest growth rate since the current data series began in March 2002. For established houses, the rise in Sydney was broad based, with the established House Price Index up a whopping 21.5%. All segments of the market posted price rises, with houses priced between $900,000 and $1.4 million contributing most to the rise, the ABS said.

Over the year to June 30, residential property prices rose in Melbourne (7.8%), Brisbane (2.9%), Canberra (2.8%), Adelaide (2.7%) and Hobart (1.5%) but fell in Darwin (-1.8%) and Perth (-1.2%). Over the quarter, prices gained the most in Sydney, followed by Melbourne at 4.2%, Brisbane (0.9%) and Canberra (0.8%) but fell in Darwin (-0.8%) and Perth (-0.9%). The average price of Australian residential dwellings rose $26,200 to $604,700.

act.’s Alex Scriven said while Sydney remained a big problem for would-be homebuyers, improving affordability in smaller cities would bring first home buyers back. “While Sydney remains the nation’s most expensive capital city, this data highlights that the boom in some property markets is coming to an end, with annual house price growth slowing in Hobart and Adelaide and prices down in Perth and Darwin. With interest rates at historically low levels and unemployment rates relatively low, we expect to see more people buying their first home in coming months.”

act. is a newly established banking service that redirects profits back into social projects. For each product act. has, including home loans, act. allocates ‘impact dollars’ – real dollars taken from the profit it earns – and it gives them back to its customers, who can then donate to a project of their choice listed on letsact.com.au.

“A lot of people think that as a social bank, we’re more expensive, but we’re not,” said Mr Scriven. “People are becoming more savvy and they aren’t accepting being locked into higher rates with the big lenders forever. People are shopping around because they realize they can get much better rates and have better relationships with some of the smaller lenders such as ourselves, so we’re seeing refinancing activity picking up,” said Scriven.

“We advise buyers to save as much as they can for a home deposit. Start making the sacrifices now and save as much as you can before you buy. The fact is that the more you borrow to buy a home, the more you will repay in interest costs. Make sure you claim the first home owner’s grant and any other subsidies your state government offers,” he said.

The amount of impact dollars a customer generates depends on the act. banking product they choose and their banking habits. The calculator on act.’s banking page reveals how impact dollars customers generate each month by banking with act. Home loans will create the greatest amount of ‘impact dollars’. For example, a customer that holds an average first home loan size of $341,200 mortgage with act. could generate approximately $43 month to reinvest in the social project of their choice.

Recently funded act. projects include Salvos Legal Humanitarian, which has helped a Bangladeshi man re-apply for a partner visa so he may stay in Australia with his wife. Another project Secondbite has raised funds through the crowd for providing more vulnerable Australians with healthy nutritious meals.

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