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Property prices are tracking down as interest rate rises continue to eat into the sum buyers can borrow.

But home value trackers are showing a slowdown in the pace of decline, with CoreLogic's home value index reporting the smallest monthly decline since June.

The one per cent drop for the month represented a more moderate decline from earlier in the year, with Sydney and Melbourne prices braking more dramatically than in smaller markets.

In August, home values in Sydney fell 2.3 per cent, whereas in November, they fell by just 1.3 per cent.

A second home price gauge released by PropTrack, which employs a different methodology to track home price movements, showed home prices down 0.16 per cent for the month.

While the November score represented an acceleration on October's pace of decline, recent falls across this index are also smaller in size than drops seen earlier in the year.

The accumulative falls have done little to unwind the massive pandemic upswing, with national prices still 30 per cent above pre-pandemic levels as per PropTrack estimates.

According to this index, home prices have fallen 3.81 per cent from their peak, with Sydney and Melbourne falling faster than other markets.

But with the pace of decline slowing, CoreLogic's research director Tim Lawless said there was a chance buyers had become accustomed to the new market conditions.

"Potentially we are seeing the initial uncertainty around buying in a higher interest rate environment wearing off, while persistently low advertised stock levels have likely contributed to this trend towards smaller value falls," he said.

But with the typically busy spring selling season drawing to a close, the fastest interest rate tightening cycle since the 1990s is likely to keep forcing prices down across most of the country.

PropTrack senior economist Eleanor Creagh said another 25 basis point rate rise was "all but certain", taking the cash rate to 3.1 per cent.

She said this would continue to drive up borrowing costs and shrink the maximum amount buyers can borrow, pushing prices down further.

Numbers crunched by AMP Capital economist Shane Oliver show the average full-time earner's home buying power has shrunk by 25 per cent, falling from around $600,000 to $450,000 (provided they had a 20 per cent deposit).

"This demand side impact has been the key driver of home price falls so far, but suggests there is much more to go," he said.

Despite the apparent slowdown in price falls, Dr Oliver was not convinced the downturn was almost finished.

"Past periods of property price falls experienced a few gyrations in the pace of price declines before prices ultimately bottomed."

He pointed to the weakening economy as well as the upcoming fixed mortgage cliff as signs of more trouble to come, with the bulk of fixed-rate home loans due to expire by the end of 2023.

Under these conditions, Dr Oliver and his team are sticking with their forecast of a 15 to 20 per cent drop from top to bottom by the September quarter next year.

© AAP 2022

One in three Australians experience image-based sexual abuse, but many don't know where to go for help.

RMIT researchers have developed a world-first artificial intelligence chatbot, Umibot, which they hope will encourage victims to report incidents of image-based abuse and find support.

Image-based abuse has spiralled in Australia, according to a 2019 survey by RMIT.

It ranges from sharing or threatening to share sexual images without consent, pressuring others to create sexual content, and being sent unsolicited sexual images or videos.

"It's a huge violation of trust that's designed to shame, punish or humiliate," lead researcher Nicola Henry said.

"It's often a way for perpetrators to exert power and control over others."

Professor Henry said victims are reluctant to seek help because they are often blamed by friends or family and feel ashamed.

The team worked with Melbourne-based digital agency Tundra to develop Umibot as an inclusive tool to encourage victims to reach out for help.

"A lot of victim-survivors are not ready to talk to a person about their experiences," co-researcher Alice Witt said.

"Teaching Umibot how to be empathetic and helpful is a way for them to seek support without any pressure."

Chatbots helping people who experience online harm already exist, but they are not focused on image-based abuse and lack functionality.

Users can type questions for Umibot or select answers from a set of options, and the chatbot can respond in a way that supports the victim.

Umibot can identify whether users are over or under 18, if they need help for themselves or for someone else, or if they are concerned about something they have done.

Dr Witt said while Umibot should not be a replacement for human support, she hopes bystanders and even perpetrators can also use the tool to prevent online abuse.

Umibot is available to use now: https://umi.rmit.edu.au/

© AAP 2022

Christine McVie, the British-born Fleetwood Mac vocalist, songwriter and keyboard player whose cool, soulful contralto helped define such classics as You Make Loving Fun, Everywhere and Don't Stop, has died at age 79.

Her death was announced on Wednesday on the band's social media accounts. No cause of death or other details were provided, but a family statement said she died peacefully in hospital after a short illness with family by her side.

"She was truly one-of-a-kind, special and talented beyond measure," the band said.

In a note on Instagram, bandmate Stevie Nicks said: "A few hours ago I was told that my best friend in the whole world since the first day of 1975, had passed away."

She said one song had been "swirling around" in her head since she found out McVie was sick, quoting the lyrics to HAIM's Hallelujah: "I had a best friend/But she has come to pass."

McVie was a steady presence in a band known for its frequent line-up changes and volatile personalities, notably fellow singer-songwriters Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham. Her death is the first among Fleetwood Mac's most famous incarnation of McVie, Nicks, Buckingham, drummer Mick Fleetwood and bassist John McVie, Christine's ex-husband.

Fleetwood Mac began as a London blues band in the 1960s and evolved into one of the defining makers of 1970s California pop-rock. During its peak commercial years of 1975-80, the band sold tens of millions of records and fascinated fans as it transformed personal battles into melodic, compelling songs. The McVies' break-up - along with the split of Nicks and Buckingham - was famously documented on the 1977 release Rumours, among the best-selling albums ever.

"I was supposedly like the Mother Teresa who would hang out with everybody or just try and (keep) everything nice and cool and relaxed," McVie told Rolling Stone earlier this year. "But they were great people; they were great friends."

Fleetwood Mac was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998. The group's many other hit singles included Nicks' Dreams, Buckingham's Go Your Own Way and McVie's Little Lies. One of McVie's most beloved works, the thoughtful ballad Songbird, was a showcase for her in concert and covered by Willie Nelson, among others.

The mid-tempo rocker Don't Stop, inspired by the end of her marriage, would gain unexpected political relevance when Bill Clinton adopted the song - and its "Don't stop thinking about tomorrow" refrain - as a theme to his 1992 presidential run.

McVie's two marriages, to John McVie and Eduardo Quintela, ended in divorce. Her boyfriends included the Beach Boys' Dennis Wilson, about whom she wrote Only Over You.

McVie, was born Christine Anne Perfect in Bouth, Lancashire. Her father was a violinist and music teacher and her grandfather played organ at Westminster Abbey. She learned to play piano but set aside her classical training once she heard early rock records by Fats Domino and others.

She befriended members of Britain's emerging blues scene while studying at the Moseley School of Art and, in her 20s, joined the band Chicken Shack. Among the rival bands she admired was Fleetwood Mac, which then featured the talents of blues guitarist Peter Green along with the rhythm section of Fleetwood and John McVie. By 1970, she had joined the group and married John McVie.

Few bands succeeded as well as Fleetwood Mac, which has sold well over 100 million records, against such long odds. Green was among the many performers who left the group, and at times Fleetwood Mac seemed on the verge of ending or fading away before being rescued by unexpected returns and interventions.

In the mid-1970s, Fleetwood Mac was down to just three members: Fleetwood and the two McVies. While in Los Angeles, Fleetwood became impressed with young duo from California, Buckingham and Nicks. He planned to ask just Buckingham to join, but the guitarist insisted the band also include his girlfriend Nicks.

The new line-up proved ideal. Nicks and Christine McVie formed a lasting friendship, and the harmonies and music-making of Nicks, Buckingham and Christine McVie ensured that such albums as Fleetwood Mac, Rumours and Mirage had a variety of songwriting and vocal styles.

But the group's success also led to inevitable conflicts and the desire for solo work. In the following decades, Nicks became a star in her own right with such solo albums as Bella Donna and both Buckingham and Christine McVie departed for years, only to eventually come back.

The pair recorded the 2017 album Lindsey Buckingham/Christine McVie. She previously released the solo records Christine Perfect, Christine McVie and In the Meantime.

More recently, Buckingham was kicked out, replaced on tour by Mike Campbell and Neil Finn.

An anthology of McVie's solo work, Songbird, was released earlier this year.

© PAA 2022