Residential Property Price Indexes: Eight Capital Cities

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Estimates of changes in residential property prices and the total value of Australia's dwelling stock, and preliminary housing market activity data

Reference period
December 2021

Key statistics

The weighted average of the eight capital cities Residential Property Price Index:

  • rose 4.7% this quarter.
  • rose 23.7% over the last twelve months.

The total value of residential dwellings in Australia rose $512.6b to $9,901.6b this quarter, and the mean price of residential dwellings rose $44,000 to $920,100.

Final issue of the Residential Property Price Indexes

This is the final issue of the Residential Property Price Indexes publication. For further information please refer to the Media Statement: Update on the Australian Bureau of Statistics work program. The ABS will continue to publish the total value of residential dwellings, median prices and counts of property sales in a new quarterly publication, Total Value of Dwellings, which is due to be published from June 2022.

Residential property pricesSep Qtr 21 to Dec Qtr 21Dec Qtr 20 to Dec Qtr 21
% change% change
Weighted average of eight capital cities4.723.7
Sydney4.126.7
Melbourne3.920.0
Brisbane9.627.8
Adelaide6.823.9
Perth2.915.7
Hobart6.529.8
Darwin1.513.0
Canberra6.428.8
   

 

 

Total value of the dwelling stock in AustraliaDec Qtr 21
Value of dwelling stock(a) ($b)9,901.6
Mean price of residential dwellings ($'000)920.1
Number of residential dwellings ('000)10,761.9

a. all sectors

 

Residential property price indexes

Residential property price indexes
 RPPI (a)HPIADPI
Sep Qtr 21 to Dec Qtr 21Sep Qtr 21 to Dec Qtr 21Sep Qtr 21 to Dec Qtr 21
% change% change% change
Weighted average of eight capital cities4.75.33.2
Sydney4.14.53.3
Melbourne3.94.23.1
Brisbane9.610.83.9
Adelaide6.87.73.1
Perth2.92.92.3
Hobart6.56.74.9
Darwin1.51.32.1
Canberra6.47.04.3

a. See reference to rounding in Methodology page.

The Residential Property Price Index comprises the House Price Index and the Attached Dwellings Price Index.
 

The Residential Property Price Indexes

Weighted average of the eight capital cities

  • rose 4.7% this quarter.
  • rose 23.7% over the last twelve months.

Capital city Residential Property Price Indexes

  • rose in Sydney (+4.1%), Melbourne (+3.9%), Brisbane (+9.6%), Adelaide (+6.8%), Perth (+2.9%), Canberra (+6.4%), Hobart (+6.5%), and Darwin (+1.5%), this quarter. (The cities are listed in order of their contribution to the quarterly result for the eight capital cities).
  • rose in Hobart (+29.8%), Canberra (+28.8%), Brisbane (+27.8%), Sydney (+26.7%), Adelaide (+23.9%), Melbourne (+20.0%), Perth (+15.7%), and Darwin (+13.0%), over the last twelve months.

 

The graph below shows the growth in capital city Residential Property Price Indexes over the past ten years.

2011-12 = 100.0

Weighted average of the eight capital cities (+4.7%)

Residential Property Price Index

  • rose 4.7% this quarter, following a rise of 5.0% in the September quarter 2021.
  • rose 23.7% over the last twelve months. This is the largest annual rise since the commencement of the series, in the September quarter 2003.

Price rises were observed in all capital cities in the December quarter 2021, with the result mainly driven by the Sydney, Melbourne, and Brisbane property markets.

Residential property price growth moderated in Sydney, Hobart and Darwin in the December quarter 2021. Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth and Canberra, on the other hand, all recorded stronger property price growth compared to the September quarter 2021.

Brisbane and Adelaide recorded their strongest quarterly rises in residential property prices since the commencement of the series.

Results were consistent with a range of housing market indicators. New lending commitments for housing (original, excluding refinancing) rose to a record high value in the December quarter 2021. Days on market fell and sales transaction volumes increased. Record low interest rates and strong demand have continued to support growth in property prices.

House Price Index

  • rose 5.3% this quarter, following a rise of 5.7% in the September quarter 2021.
  • rose 27.5% over the last twelve months. This is the largest annual rise since the commencement of the series.

Attached Dwellings Price Index

  • rose 3.2% this quarter, following a rise of 3.1% in the September quarter 2021.
  • rose 14.0% over the last twelve months, the largest rise since the June quarter 2010. ­­

Sydney (+4.1%)

Residential Property Price Index

  • rose 4.1% this quarter, following a rise of 6.2% in the September quarter 2021.
  • rose 26.7% over the last twelve months. This is the largest annual rise since the commencement of the series.

House Price Index

  • rose 4.5% this quarter, following a rise of 7.4% in the September quarter 2021.
  • rose 32.9% over the last twelve months. This is the largest annual rise since the commencement of the series.

Price rises were observed across all market segments.

Attached Dwellings Price Index

  • rose 3.3% this quarter, following a rise of 3.6% in the September quarter 2021.
  • rose 15.5% over the last twelve months.

Price rises were most evident in the middle ($925,000 to $1.4m) segments of the market.

Melbourne (+3.9%)

Residential Property Price Index

  • rose 3.9% this quarter, following a rise of 3.6% in the September quarter 2021.
  • rose 20.0% over the last twelve months, the largest rise since the June quarter 2010.

Substantial rises in sales transaction numbers were observed for both houses and attached dwellings in the December quarter 2021.

House Price Index

  • rose 4.2% this quarter, following a rise of 3.8% in the September quarter 2021.
  • rose 23.0% over the last twelve months.

Price rises were observed across all segments of the market.

Attached Dwellings Price Index                                

  • rose 3.1% this quarter, following a rise of 2.9% in the September quarter 2021.
  • rose 11.8% over the last twelve months.

Price rises were most evident in the middle to upper ($660,000 to $890,000) market segments.

Brisbane (+9.6%)

Residential Property Price Index

  • rose 9.6% this quarter, following a rise of 6.1% in the September quarter 2021.
  • rose 27.8% over the last twelve months.

The quarterly and annual rises for Brisbane are the largest since the commencement of the series.

House Price Index

  • rose 10.8% this quarter, following a rise of 6.9% in the September quarter 2021.
  • rose 31.6% over the last twelve months.

Price rises were observed across all segments of the market.

Attached Dwellings Price Index

  • rose 3.9% this quarter, following a rise of 2.3% in the September quarter 2021.
  • rose 11.7% over the last twelve months.

Price rises were most evident in the middle to upper market segments.

Adelaide (+6.8%)

Residential Property Price Index

  • rose 6.8% this quarter, following a rise of 5.9% in the September quarter 2021.
  • rose 23.9% over the last twelve months.

The quarterly and annual rises for Adelaide are the largest since the commencement of the series.

House Price Index

  • rose 7.7% this quarter. This is the largest quarterly rise since the commencement of the series.
  • rose 27.2% over the last twelve months.

Attached Dwellings Price Index

  • rose 3.1% this quarter.
  • rose 11.5% over the last twelve months.

Perth (+2.9%)

    Residential Property Price Index

    • rose 2.9% this quarter, following a rise of 2.0% in the September quarter 2021. 
    • rose 15.7% over the last twelve months.

    House Price Index

    • rose 2.9% this quarter.
    • rose 16.5% over the last twelve months.

    Attached Dwellings Price Index

    • rose 2.3% this quarter. 
    • rose 12.1% over the last twelve months.

    Hobart (+6.5%)

        Residential Property Price Index

        • rose 6.5% this quarter, following a rise of 8.2% in the September quarter 2021.
        • rose 29.8% over the last twelve months. This is the largest annual rise since the commencement of the series.

        House Price Index

        • rose 6.7% this quarter.
        • rose 30.5% over the last twelve months.

        Attached Dwellings Price Index

        • rose 4.9% this quarter.  
        • rose 25.7% over the last twelve months. This is the largest rise since the commencement of the series.

         

        Darwin (+1.5%)

        Residential Property Price Index

        • rose 1.5% this quarter, following a rise of 1.6% in the September quarter 2021.
        • rose 13.0% over the last twelve months.

        House Price Index

        • rose 1.3% this quarter. 
        • rose 13.3% over the last twelve months.

        Attached Dwellings Price Index

        • rose 2.1% this quarter.
        • rose 12.3% over the last twelve months.

        Canberra (+6.4%)

          Residential Property Price Index

          • rose 6.4% this quarter, following a rise of 6.0% in the September quarter 2021.
          • rose 28.8% over the last twelve months.

          House Price Index

          • rose 7.0% this quarter.
          • rose 32.8% over the last twelve months.

          Attached Dwellings Price Index

          • rose 4.3% this quarter.
          • rose 16.8% over the last twelve months.

          The annual rises in all three indexes are the largest since the commencement of the series.

               

          Total value of dwelling stock

          The preliminary estimate of the total value of residential dwellings in Australia in the December quarter 2021 was $9,901.6 billion, up $512.6 billion from $9,388.9 billion in the September quarter 2021. The value of residential dwellings has risen $2,015.1 billion since the December quarter 2020. Of the total value of residential dwellings, $9,461.1 billion was owned by households.

          The number of residential dwellings rose by 44,800 to 10,761,900 and the mean price of residential dwellings rose $44,000 to $920,100 this quarter. 

          The value of residential dwellings in NSW this quarter was $4,014.1 billion, approximately 41 per cent of the total value of dwellings in Australia. 

          The mean price of residential dwellings in NSW rose by $47,700 to $1,207,200 and was the highest in the country. The second highest mean price was in the Australian Capital Territory ($979,600), followed by Victoria ($956,100). The lowest mean price ($489,000) was in the Northern Territory.

          Notes

          Revisions

          Revisions apply to estimates for the second and third most recent quarters of the total value of dwelling stock and its components (see Revisions, under Total value of dwelling stock, in the Methodology page), and to median prices and transfers (see Revisions, under Dwelling transfer counts and median prices, in the Methodology page). Revisions to these estimates for previous quarters are standard practice in these series.

          Use of price indexes in contracts

          Price indexes published by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) provide summary measures of the movements in various categories of prices over time. They are published primarily for use in Government economic analysis. Price indexes are also often used in contracts by businesses and government to adjust payments and/or charges to take account of changes in categories of prices (Indexation Clauses).

          Use of Price Indexes in Contracts sets out a range of issues that should be taken into account by parties considering including an Indexation Clause in a contract using an ABS published price index.

          Previous catalogue number

          This release previously used catalogue number 6416.0

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          Changes to Excel file format

          This publication has transitioned to releasing Excel files in .XLSX format.

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