CoreLogic Dwelling Prices MoM

CoreLogic Dwelling Prices MoM is the monthly % change in the CoreLogic Hedonic Home Value Index (HVI). The index is model-based, not a survey, gauging Australian dwelling values. It launched in 2007 with history back to 1980, valuing the full stock rather than only homes sold. Inputs span sales records, agent advice, listings and attributes, with no fixed sample: only about 5% of homes sell in 12 months.

It is not the median sale price, any single home value, a rents series or a government statistic. A daily home value index runs alongside the monthly headline.

Each edition covers the calendar month just ended. It appears early next month under embargo until 00:01 AEDT, on no fixed weekday. Settled sales plus pre-settlement agent advice feed in until publication; late deals enter through revision.

Releases carry commentary, tables of monthly, quarterly, annual and total return change, and the median value for All dwellings, Houses and Units. Charts cover listings, sales, rents, yields and outlook, with top areas by 12-month growth and the monthly chart pack. Each result revises over the next 12 months, and the daily series realigns on the 1st.

The index has been revisionary since October 2023, so results after 2018 do not compare with the old series. A positive sign means values rose and a negative sign means they fell.

The headline reflects houses, units and regions, with no fixed weights set.

• Combined dwellings: houses plus units together, and the national MoM headline.
• Houses: Torrens Title homes where owners hold the land, covering semis, terraces and duplexes.
• Units: strata title homes with shared claim to common land, covering villas and townhouses.
• Geographic splits: national, state, city and regional cuts to suburb level, where capitals dominate.
• Value tiers: low, mid and high bands by price level.
• Companion series: separate gauges for stratified median, repeat sales, rents and total return.

The November 2022 edition, published 1 December 2022, shows the mechanics. The national index fell 1.0% MoM for the seventh straight month, the slowest pace since June after a 1.6% August drop. Capital city units fell 0.6% against 1.2% for houses, a gap in place since the peak (4.7% versus 8.4%). The nation stood 7.0% below its April 2022 peak after a 28.6% upswing.

Sydney eased to a 1.3% fall from 2.3%, and Melbourne to 0.8% from 1.5% in July. Brisbane and Hobart fell 2.0% while Perth held flat and Darwin rose 0.2%. Sydney sat 11.4% below peak, and the national median value was $714,475. Tim Lawless tied the slower pace to thin stock and fading rate shock; affordability and tight labour markets shielded Perth and Darwin.

1. Assemble sales and attributes: gather settled sales, agent advice, listings and attributes: bedrooms, bathrooms, land size, floor area, location.
2. Hedonic regression: estimate each trait's contributory value, such as bedrooms, size and location, from observed sales.
3. Imputation for the full stock: apply those values to every home in the segment, even with no recent sale, for a like-for-like read.
4. Recency weighting: weight the 12-month window exponentially toward newer sales.
5. Constant stock comparison: compare imputed totals for homes unchanged between periods, isolating time-driven change.
6. Rebasing and MoM math: set the index to 100 at 31 December 2009. Divide the current month-end level by the prior one, subtract 1 and multiply by 100. As an illustration, 178.2 against 180.0 gives a 1.0% fall. Publish the first read after month-end and revise it across 12 months; the headline stays unadjusted for seasons.
7. Seasonal adjustment: offer a separate adjusted index to subscribers, with no published method.

Key point: A 1.0% fall does not mean median sold prices fell 1.0%. The hedonic method removes compositional bias by valuing all homes. Index points carry no dollar meaning; only point-to-point change counts.

The printed median is the middle estimated value of all homes; an AVM (a single-home valuation tool) stands apart. Other providers can differ since methods and transaction data differ.