Australia news live: housing market slows but rents surge; Penny Wong hails South Korea energy pact

Australia’s housing market is at its slowest for almost 18 months as buyers stick to cheaper properties and abandon interest in the top end of the market.Figures today from the data firm Cotality show Melbourne and Sydney house prices fell 0.6% in April. Melbourne’s home values have now fallen 1.9% since November, with Sydney’s down 1%.Prices are still rising at the cheaper end of the market but at a slower pace in both cities. The lower quarter of the market is up 0.1% but outweighed by the top-priced quarter falling 1.2% in April.Canberra prices stayed flat over the month and Hobart’s rose just 0.2%, with the top quarters of both seeing prices fall.Perth, Brisbane, Adelaide and Darwin are still steadily rising but the two-speed market is clear: every capital city is seeing prices rise faster in the bottom quarter of homes than the top quarter.Australia has agreed to work together with South Korea to strengthen energy supply chain resilience and to maintain stable, safe and reliable supply of energy resources, including diesel and LNG, foreign minister Penny Wong has confirmed after talks in Seoul, Reuters reports.The two nations announced a joint statement on energy resource security last night that lays out their commitment to “preemptively” cooperate to ensure energy security resilience.Wong, who also travelled to Japan and China on her current trip, said the Asian region has “disproportionately” felt the impact of the crisis in the Middle East and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.South Korea is a key energy partner of Australia as the largest supplier of diesel and third-largest source of jet fuel, Wong said. Australia is South Korea’s largest source of liquefied natural gas (LNG).“We depend on you, and you depend on us,” Wong said, in describing the need for close coordination and Australia’s commitment as a reliable supplier of food, energy and other commodities to South Korea.House prices may be slowing but rents are rising at their fastest since October 2024, adding to inflation pressure ahead of the Reserve Bank’s next interest rate decision on Tuesday.Advertised prices for new rental listings are rising at their fastest pace since October 2024, with Cotality data showing they picked up 5.7% over the year, including a rise of 0.6% (or about $38) in April alone.The pace of rent increases for houses had been picking up in every major city except Adelaide until recently. Now even Adelaide is rising, with advertised house rents up 4.2% in the year to April. Perth and Hobart are up 7% and Darwin house rents have risen 8.8%The tight rental market didn’t help, with vacancy rates below 1.8% in every capital city, well below the 2010s average of 3.3% of rental stock left vacant.Rents were one of the biggest non-fuel contributors to inflation hitting 4.6% in the year to March, after rising 3.7% across existing and new tenancies. The Reserve Bank will be weighing up whether inflation is too fast as it considers another interest rate hike next week.Australia’s housing market is at its slowest for almost 18 months as buyers stick to cheaper properties and abandon interest in the top end of the market.Figures today from the data firm Cotality show Melbourne and Sydney house prices fell 0.6% in April. Melbourne’s home values have now fallen 1.9% since November, with Sydney’s down 1%.Prices are still rising at the cheaper end of the market but at a slower pace in both cities. The lower quarter of the market is up 0.1% but outweighed by the top-priced quarter falling 1.2% in April.Canberra prices stayed flat over the month and Hobart’s rose just 0.2%, with the top quarters of both seeing prices fall.Perth, Brisbane, Adelaide and Darwin are still steadily rising but the two-speed market is clear: every capital city is seeing prices rise faster in the bottom quarter of homes than the top quarter.Good morning and welcome to our live news blog. I’m Martin Farrer with the top overnight stories and then it will be Stephanie Convery with the main action.Australia’s housing market is at its slowest for almost 18 months as buyers stick to cheaper properties but rents are rising at their fastest rate since October 2024.Australia has agreed to work with South Korea to strengthen energy supply chain resilience and to maintain secure supply of energy resources, the foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, has said after talks in Seoul last night.More coming up.