6416.0 - Residential Property Price Indexes: Eight Capital Cities, Dec 2013 Quality Declaration 
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 11/02/2014   
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MEDIA RELEASE
11 February 2014
Embargoed: 11.30 am (Canberra time)
10/2014

Property prices finish 2013 on a high

New figures released today by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) show that residential property prices have risen in every capital city in the December quarter 2013.

Today's publication of Residential Property Price Indexes: Eight Capital Cities (cat. no. 6416.0) contains an expanded range of statistics on residential properties.

The figures show that the Residential Property Price Index (RPPI), a measure including houses and attached dwellings, for the weighted average of the eight capital cities rose 3.4% this quarter, for a total rise of 9.3% over the last year. Established house prices rose 3.5% and attached dwelling prices rose 3.0% in the quarter.

RPPI Director, Robin Ashburn said, "Sydney continues to grow at the fastest rate across the country, with house prices rising 4.9% in the December quarter 2013, the third consecutive quarter for which Sydney has had the largest rise in house prices of any capital city."

The rises in house prices in the other capital cities are Melbourne (+2.8%), Perth (+3.5%), Brisbane (+3.0%), Adelaide (+2.8%), Hobart (+2.3%), Darwin (+2.7%) and Canberra (+0.4%).

Prices for attached dwellings (which includes flats and apartments) rose in all capital cities except Darwin (-0.4%). Prices went up in Sydney (+4.4%), Melbourne (+1.9%), Perth (+2.6%), Brisbane (+2.2%), Adelaide (+1.5%), Hobart (+0.7%) and Canberra (+0.1%).

The new statistics are being published as part of the ABS program to enhance macroeconomic statistics in Australia.

These new figures also include a measure of the total value of residential properties in Australia, which has risen to $5.02 trillion in the December quarter 2013, up from $4.83 trillion in the September quarter.

They also show that the average price of Australia's 9.3 million residential properties is now $539,400 (up from $496,800 in the December quarter 2012).

Further information is available in Residential Property Price Indexes: Eight Capital Cities (cat. no. 6416.0), available for free download from the ABS website - www.abs.gov.au

Media notes:
  • When reporting ABS data, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (or ABS) must be attributed as the source.
  • Established houses are detached residential dwellings on their own block of land regardless of age.
  • Attached dwellings includes flats, units and apartments plus semi-detached, row and terrace houses.
  • The value and mean price of residential dwellings includes any land.
  • Further information on the new statistics is available from Forthcoming Changes to House Price Indexes: Eight Capital Cities, 2013 (cat. no. 6416.0.55.002).