SYDNEY, Feb 1 (Reuters) - Australia's house prices extended declines for the ninth straight month in January amid high mortgage rates, a drag on household wealth that will further erode consumer spending and add to economic stress.
Figures from property consultant CoreLogic on Wednesday showed prices nationally fell 1.0% in January from December, when values dropped 1.1%.
Prices were down 7.2% from a year earlier. They were also 8.9% lower from their April peak, making last month the largest and fastest decline in values since at least 1980 as the Reserve Bank of Australia embarked on the most aggressive tightening campaign in modern history.
The monthly fall was led by Sydney where prices slid 1.2% in the month to be down 13.8% on the year, while Melbourne dropped 1.1% on the month and 9.3% on a year earlier.
Prices across the combined capital cities fell 1.1% in the month, while outlying regions - which have performed better in this housing downturn - lost 0.8%.
Tim Lawless, research director at CoreLogic, does not expect listing and purchasing activity would return to average levels until consumer sentiment starts to improve, after prices suffered the biggest fall since 2008 last year.
New listings in capital cities in January were 22.2% lower than over the same period last year, implying that most home owners seem to be prepared to wait this downturn out.
"Until Australians have a higher level of confidence with regards to their household finances and the outlook for the economy, it's likely they will continue to delay major financial decisions," Lawless said.
The RBA has lifted rates by 300 basis points to a 10-year high of 3.1% to curb red-hot inflation. Investors are wagering rates would rise by another 25 basis points next week when the Board meets for the first time this year. '
Consumers are already feeling the pinch from rising borrowing costs and sky high inflation, with December retail sales tumbling the most in more than two years, in a warning for the economy.
