Australian home value growth has continued its downward trend in February 2022, with Sydney witnessing housing prices fall for the first time in 17 months. The national home value index of property database company CoreLogic went up just 0.6 percent in February, the lowest monthly increase recorded since October 2020. Prior to this, the index rose by 1.1 percent in January after reaching the peak of 2.8 percent in March 2021. Tim Lawless, the CoreLogic director of research, said on March 1 that the pace of growth in house prices started to slow down in April 2021. At the time, fixed-term mortgage rates were subject to upward pressure, while the government was ending fiscal support, and housing affordability was becoming more stretched. “With rising global uncertainty and the potential for weaker consumer sentiment amidst tighter monetary policy settings, the downside risk for housing markets has become more pronounced in recent …