MEDIA RELEASE
23 June 2015	Embargo: 11.30 am (Canberra time)	72/2015

Sydney continues to drive residential property price increases with the Residential Property Price Index (RPPI) for Sydney rising 3.1 per cent in the March quarter 2015 and 13.1 per cent in the previous year according to figures released today by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). Established house prices for Sydney rose 3.8 per cent and attached dwelling prices rose 2.2 per cent.

The RPPI for the weighted average of the eight capital cities rose 1.6 per cent in the March quarter 2015 and 6.9 per cent in the previous year.

As well as the rise in Sydney, the RPPI rose in Melbourne (+0.6 per cent), Brisbane (+0.4 per cent), Adelaide (+0.7 per cent), Canberra (+1.1 per cent) and Hobart (+0.5 per cent). The RPPI fell in Darwin (-0.2 per cent) and Perth (-0.1 per cent).

The total value of Australia's 9.5 million residential dwellings increased to $5.5 trillion. The mean price of dwellings in Australia is now $576,100, an increase of $8,400 over the quarter.

A review of the Residential Property Price Indexes was undertaken in 2014 as a response to planned reductions to the ABS work program. The review outcomes have been implemented in the March quarter 2015. Detailed information relating to the implementation of the review outcomes is available 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.

Media notes:

• 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.
• When reporting ABS data the Australian Bureau of Statistics (or ABS) must be attributed as the source.
• Media requests and interviews - contact the ABS Communications Section on 1300 175 070.