Price rises in Sydney (2.3 per cent) and Melbourne (3.0 per cent) were partially offset by falls in Perth (0.8 per cent) and Darwin (1.4 per cent).
“Residential property prices, while continuing to rise in Melbourne and Sydney this quarter, have begun to moderate. Annual price movements ranged from -4.9 per cent in Darwin to +13.8 per cent in Sydney and Melbourne. These results highlight the diverse housing market and economic conditions in Australia’s capital cities,” Chief Economist for the ABS, Bruce Hockman said.
The Housing Industry Association’s senior economist Shane Garrett says housing unaffordability is an issue that needs to be tackled sooner rather than later.
“The bottom line is that unabated price increases are putting the dream of home ownership beyond the reach of more and more Australians,” Mr Garrett said.
“The ultimate solution to the affordability challenge is to make the delivery of our future housing stock easier and less costly. More flexibility in housing supply is the answer,” Mr Garrett concluded.
Through the year growth in residential property prices reached 10.2 per cent in the June quarter 2017. Sydney and Melbourne recorded the largest through the year growth of all capital cities, both rising 13.8 per cent followed by Hobart, which rose 12.4 per cent.
The total value of Australia’s 9.9 million residential dwellings increased $145.9 billion to $6.7 trillion. The mean price of dwellings in Australia rose by $12,100 over the quarter to $679,100.
HIA data shows between the June 2016 and the June 2017 quarters, Sydney dwellings experienced the largest increase in price (+14.4 per cent) followed by Melbourne (+13.4 per cent) and Hobart (+11.3 per cent). There were also rises in dwelling prices in Canberra (+8.9 per cent), Adelaide (+5.0 per cent) and Brisbane (+3.5 per cent) over the same period. Prices declined in both Perth (-3.5 per cent) and Darwin (-5.9 per cent) over the year to the June 2017 quarter.
