“Canberra had the largest fall in house prices and Darwin had the largest decrease in other dwellings,” Mr Gunning said.
“This is the first time since September 2006 that Hobart hasn’t had the lowest house median price for all capital cities on the back of an increase of 7.2 per cent over the quarter and 20.0 per cent over the previous year.
“Adelaide now has the lowest median house price at $470,000 some 39 per cent lower than the national average,” Mr Gunning said.
Mr Gunning said despite the falls over the quarter, over the 12 months, the weighted average capital city median house price has increased by 2.2 per cent, on the back of rises in all capital cities except Perth and Darwin.
“Over the quarter, median rents for three-bedroom houses increased in all capital cities except Darwin. Median rents for two-bedroom other dwellings performed better with all cities increasing their medians,” he said.
Mr Gunning said the weighted average vacancy rate for the eight capital cities decreased to 2.6 per cent during the March quarter indicating a tighter rental market.
“Canberra has the tightest market with a vacancy rate of 0.5 per cent which is the lowest rate for a capital city since March 2008 and for Canberra since the early 1980s,” Mr Gunning said.
New South Wales
Over March quarter, the median house price in Sydney decreased to $1,150,357, a decrease of 2.6 per cent over the quarter and a decrease of 1.4 per cent over the previous year.
The median rent for three-bedroom houses in Sydney increased to $520 per week, an increase of 2.0 per cent over the quarter and an increase of 4.0 per cent over the past year. The vacancy rate in Sydney increased to 2.3 per cent an increase of 0.2 percentage points over the quarter.
View the report in full here.