HOUSE values in Newcastle and Lake Macquarie have fallen 1.1 per cent in the past month, the latest CoreLogic data shows.
The home value index (HVI) data released today reveals the median house value in the region is now $815,469.
Units also recorded a monthly fall of 1.1 per cent, with a median value of $639,778.
Overall, house values in Newcastle and Lake Macquarie have dipped 9 per cent in the past 12 months.
In November, the region's house values recorded a fall of 0.4 per cent, down from a drop of 1.8 per cent in the previous month.
Across Australia, house values fell 1.0 per cent in January, a slight improvement on the 1.1 per cent decline recorded in December, and the smallest month-on-month decline since June last year.
In comparison to this time last year, national house prices are down 7.3 per cent.
Decreasing housing values have worked in favour of first-home buyer Cass Jack who purchased a three-bedroom house on a large block in Bellbird for $590,000 through selling agent Alexandra Diktakis at Belle Property.
"I started looking for a house three-and-a-half years and then the market hit the boom so I thought I'd sit on it for a while to see what would happen," Ms Jack said.
"It got to a point where I needed to make the jump and then I found this house."
Four days after the house hit the market, Ms Jack secured the property when she placed an offer higher than another buyer who was looking to purchase the home as an investment.
She said there was a noticeable drop in numbers at open house inspections when she bought the home late last year compared to the period between 2020 and early 2022.
"There weren't as many people at the open house compared to others that I'd been to," she said.
"Even though I spent a little more than I planned to, it was still reasonably priced for what I was getting.
"I noticed that the market definitely had dropped and there was a lot less competition."
Despite the consecutive falls, every capital city and rest-of-the-state region is still recording home values above their pre-pandemic levels.
Through January, regional housing values continued to record a milder rate of decline compared with capital cities which comes after a significantly stronger upswing.
Across the combined non-capital city areas of Australia, housing values surged 41.6 per cent higher through the upswing compared with a 25.5 per cent rise in values across the combined capital cities.
Since peaking in June, the combined regionals index is down 7.4 per cent, while capital city values are now 9.6 below their April peak.
"Even though the affordability proposition across many regional areas has been eroded substantially through the latest upswing, a lot of regional markets are still more affordable than their capital city counterparts," CoreLogic Research Director Tim Lawless said.
"Look at Newcastle where the typical median value for a house in the region is $815,000 compared to Sydney where it's still $1.2 million.
"There's still an affordability advantage that rings through for these markets."
Mr Lawless added that there has also likely been a structural change in the underlying demand profile for regional markets.
"Even though migration rates have clearly eased back, they still seem to be above what they were pre-COVID," he said.
"More people are able to base themselves in considerable regional markets than what we're seeing pre-COVID as well so maybe that has something to do with it."
