[(Title)] Melbourne leads worsening national home price downturn.

Australia's housing downturn is getting worse, with the more expensive end of the market in Melbourne and Sydney leading the declines.

澳大利亚的房价下滑严重。

CoreLogic's monthly home price index shows a national capital city price fall of 0.4 per cent during August, with prices down 1.2 per cent over the past three months and nearly 3 per cent over the past year.

CoreLogic的房价指数显示，8月份首都房价下跌了0.4%，过去3个月房价下跌了1.2%，去年下跌了近3%。

Melbourne is now leading the declines, with a 2 per cent fall over the past three months, although Sydney's 5.6 per cent annual decline is still the worst over the past year.

如今，墨尔本正领导着这一跌幅，在过去的三个月里，下降了2%，尽管悉尼年下滑5.6%仍然是过去一年中跌幅最大的。

CoreLogic's head of research Tim Lawless said there were a range of factors that had slowed the housing market.

CoreLogic的研究主管蒂姆·劳尔斯表示，一系列因素已经让住房市场放缓。

"Foremost of which is the tighter credit environment which has slowed market activity, especially amongst investors," he observed.

“最重要的是信贷环境收紧，这减缓了市场活动，尤其是投资者，”他表示。

"Fewer active buyers has led to higher inventory levels and reduced competition in the market. Collectively, these factors have been compounded by affordability challenges, reduced foreign investment and a rise in housing supply."

“活跃的买家越少，库存增加，市场竞争减少。总的来说，这些因素因国内负担能力，外国投资减少和住房供应增加而加剧。"。

Mr Lawless said this slower market activity is showing up in more homes remaining on the market longer.

劳伦斯表示，市场活动放缓导致更多的房屋留在市场时间更长。

"The rise in inventory is simply due to a lack of absorption; with fewer buyers, homes are taking longer to sell."

"库存增加的原因很简单，由于购买者较少，房屋出售时间更长"。

This trend continued over the weekend, with preliminary auction clearance rates in both Sydney and Melbourne below 60 per cent, pointing to a final clearance rate in the low-50s.

这一趋势在周末继续延续，悉尼和墨尔本的初步拍卖批准率都低于60%。

CoreLogic's head of Australian research Cameron Kusher said that is partly due to the much tighter access to mortgage credit and also a common market dynamic.

澳大利亚研究机构CoreLogic的负责人卡梅伦·库谢尔表示，部分原因在于抵押贷款信贷的紧缩程度以及共同的市场动态。。

"That's kind of typical of what you do see in a downturn," he told ABC News.

他对ABC新闻说：“这是经济下滑期间你所看到的典型状况。这是我们在2008年经济下滑中所看到的一种趋势，这是我们历史上多次出现下滑的趋势。”