Sydney house prices continue to drop, shedding 0.2 per cent in the past week, according to data from CoreLogic.
The latest decline adds to a 1.4 per cent decrease in Sydney house prices for the September quarter 2017 as identified by the Australian Bureau of Statistics' (ABS) Residential Property Price Index (RPPI).
That price drop represents the first quarterly fall in Sydney house prices in the past five quarters, according to the RPPI.
The last quarterly decline in Sydney house prices recorded by the ABS occurred in the December quarter of 2015 when the RPPI noted a 1.6 per cent decline.
Across the country, the ABS also stated that the mean price of residential dwellings in Australia fell by $1,200 over the quarter to $681,100.
The weighted average of the eight capital cities also dropped with the RPPI registering a fall of 0.2 per cent in the September quarter 2017, the first fall in the RPPI since the March quarter of 2016.
But some are still relatively optimistic about the future of Sydney's property prices.
In an article published by Domain Holdings Group (ASX: DHG) it was suggested that Sydney's property market would rise by between 4 and 8 per cent next year based on findings by SQM Research.
Interestingly, an article published by REA Group Limited's (ASX: REA) realestate.com on the same day as the Domain article and based on the same research, placed more emphasis on the finding that house prices in Sydney will continue their decline into 2018 before recovering in the second half of the year.
Dr Shane Oliver, an economist for AMP Limited (ASX: AMP) also recently weighed in on the debate, stating that "we continue to expect a 5%-10% downswing in Sydney and Melbourne property prices".
As such a report published by the QBE Insurance Group Ltd (ASX: QBE), concerning the outlook of Australia's property market which expected unit prices in Sydney to drop 3.8 per cent by 2020 and house prices to lose 0.2 per cent in value, may need to be revised downwards.
