SYDNEY, Jan. 2 (Xinhua) -- Australia's housing market has suffered its largest fall since 2008, when the global financial crisis decimated the world's economic landscape.
Released on Wednesday, December data from CoreLogic showed a massive 2.3 percent slump for the month and a drop off of 4.8 percent for the year in 2018.
According to the report, the figures were mostly a result of quarter-on-quarter declines in Sydney and Melbourne, which lost 8.9 percent and 7.0 percent in value over the duration of the calendar year.
On top of this, other capital city markets also slowed down along with dwelling prices in some regional areas.
"Although Australia's two largest cities are the primary drivers for the weaker national reading, most regions around the country have reacted to tighter credit conditions by recording weaker housing market results relative to 2017," Head of Research at CoreLogic Tim Lawless said.
Despite this however, there were still some improvements around the nation.
"The two exceptions were regional Tasmania, where the pace of capital gains was higher relative to 2017 resulting in a nation leading 9.9 percent gain in values over the 2018 calendar year, and Darwin, where the annual rate of decline improved from -8.9 percent in 2017 to -1.5 percent in 2018."
Continuing to be an ongoing problem for Australia's economy, it is now the overwhelming view of most economists that due to the steep downturn, interest rates will remain on hold at the record low of 1.5 percent, where they have been since August 2016, until at least 2020.
