Australia's Red Hot Housing Market Shows First Signs of Slowing

(Bloomberg) -- House prices in Australia increased at their slowest pace in 16 months in April, offering a measure of relief to both homebuyers and regulators after a breakneck run.

Home values in Australia's combined capital cities rose 0.1 percent in April from March, according to data from CoreLogic Inc. released on Monday. The slowest monthly growth since December 2015 comes after regulators tightened lending restrictions amid fears of a housing bubble.

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Still, it's too early to call a peak in the market, CoreLogic's head of research Tim Lawless said, adding it was only one month of “soft results” and several public holidays slowed sales.

Prices in Sydney, Australia's largest city, were unchanged in April, though still 16 percent higher than a year earlier.

To contact the reporter on this story: Emily Cadman in Sydney at ecadman2@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Edward Johnson at ejohnson28@bloomberg.net, Peter Vercoe