6416.0 - Residential Property Price Indexes: Eight Capital Cities, Mar 2018 Quality Declaration 
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 19/06/2018   
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MEDIA RELEASE
19 June 2018
Embargo: 11.30 am (Canberra time)
Sydney and Melbourne drive property price fall

Residential property prices fell 0.7 per cent in the March quarter 2018, according to figures released today by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

ABS Chief Economist Bruce Hockman said Australia's two largest cities led the fall: "Sydney recorded the third consecutive quarter of falling property prices (-1.2 per cent) and the first annual price fall (-0.5 per cent) since the March quarter 2012, while Melbourne property prices fell 0.6 per cent, the first quarterly price fall since September quarter 2012."

"Regulatory changes and tighter lending conditions have continued to affect investors, who are more active in the Sydney and Melbourne property markets. These cities have seen strong price growth over recent years particularly in detached dwellings."

Through the year growth in residential property prices continued to moderate (2.0 per cent) in the March quarter 2018. Most capital cities have shown declines in annual growth rates since September quarter 2017, except Hobart (+14.1 per cent), which has continued to see strong rises in residential property prices.

"Positive economic conditions in Hobart, such as, solid jobs growth, rising employment, and an increase in net interstate migration, are underpinning demand for property," Mr Hockman said. "Hobart has continued to experience consistently tight housing supply, which is leading to a strong rise in residential property prices."

The total value of Australia's 10 million residential dwellings decreased $22.5 billion to $6.9 trillion. The mean price of dwellings in Australia is now $687,700.

Further details can be found in Residential Property Price Indexes: Eight Capital Cities (cat. no. 6416.0), available for free download from the ABS website: https://www.abs.gov.au

Image of Australia overlaid with quarterly change in RPPI for each capital city


Media notes:
  • Established houses are detached residential dwellings on their own block of land, regardless of age.
  • The term '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.
  • When reporting ABS data, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (or ABS) must be attributed as the source.
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