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
September 2021
Released
7/12/2021

Key statistics

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

  • rose 5.0% this quarter.
  • rose 21.7% over the last twelve months.

The total value of residential dwellings in Australia rose $487.0b to $9,259.2b this quarter, and the mean price of residential dwellings rose $42,000 to $863,700.

Residential property pricesJun Qtr 21 to Sep Qtr 21Sep Qtr 20 to Sep Qtr 21
% change% change
Weighted average of eight capital cities5.021.7
Sydney6.225.4
Melbourne3.619.5
Brisbane6.119.7
Adelaide5.919.0
Perth2.015.7
Hobart8.225.7
Darwin1.613.7
Canberra6.025.2

 

 

Total value of the dwelling stock in AustraliaSep Qtr 21
Value of dwelling stock(a) ($b)9,259.2
Mean price of residential dwellings ($'000)863.7
Number of residential dwellings ('000)10,720.5

a. all sectors

 

Residential property price indexes

Residential property price indexes
 RPPI (a)HPIADPI
Jun Qtr 21 to Sep Qtr 21Jun Qtr 21 to Sep Qtr 21Jun Qtr 21 to Sep Qtr 21
% change% change% change
Weighted average of eight capital cities5.05.73.1
Sydney6.27.43.6
Melbourne3.63.82.9
Brisbane6.16.92.3
Adelaide5.96.82.2
Perth2.02.21.2
Hobart8.28.37.4
Darwin1.61.52.1
Canberra6.07.12.5

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 5.0% this quarter.
  • rose 21.7% over the last twelve months.

Capital city Residential Property Price Indexes

  • rose in Sydney (+6.2%), Melbourne (+3.6%), Brisbane (+6.1%), Adelaide (+5.9%), Perth (+2.0%), Canberra (+6.0%), Hobart (+8.2%), and Darwin (+1.6%), this quarter. (The cities are listed in order of their contribution to the quarterly result for the eight capital cities.)
  • rose in Hobart (+25.7%), Sydney (+25.4%), Canberra (+25.2%), Brisbane (+19.7%), Melbourne (+19.5%), Adelaide (+19.0%), Perth (+15.7%), and Darwin (+13.7%), 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 (+5.0%)

Residential Property Price Index

  • rose 5.0% this quarter, following a rise of 6.7% in the June quarter 2021
  • rose 21.7% 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 September quarter 2021, with the result mainly driven by the Sydney property market (+6.2%).

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

Results are consistent with conditions in the housing market. Continued solid growth in residential property prices was supported by record low interest rates, strong demand and low levels of stock on the market.

During the September quarter 2021, COVID-19 restrictions were imposed in Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra. The number of residential property transactions fell in all three cities, with Melbourne the most heavily affected.

House Price Index

  • rose 5.7% this quarter, following a rise of 7.7% in the June quarter 2021.
  • rose 25.4% over the last twelve months. This is the largest annual rise since the commencement of the series.

Attached Dwellings Price Index

  • rose 3.1% this quarter, following a rise of 4.3% in the June quarter 2021.
  • rose 12.4% over the last twelve months. ­­

Sydney (+6.2%)

Residential Property Price Index

  • rose 6.2% this quarter, following a rise of 8.1% in the June quarter 2021.
  • rose 25.4% over the last twelve months. This is the largest annual rise since the commencement of the series.

House Price Index

  • rose 7.4% this quarter, following a rise of 9.6% in the June quarter 2021.
  • rose 32.1% over the last twelve months. This is the largest annual rise since the commencement of the series.

Price rises were most evident in the middle ($1.0m to $2.7m) segments of the market.

Attached Dwellings Price Index

  • rose 3.6% this quarter, following a rise of 5.1% in the June quarter 2021.
  • rose 13.4% over the last twelve months.

Price rises were most evident in the middle ($835,000 to $1.3m) market segments.

Melbourne (+3.6%)

Residential Property Price Index

  • rose 3.6% this quarter, following a rise of 6.1% in the June quarter 2021.
  • rose 19.5% over the last twelve months.

House Price Index

  • rose 3.8% this quarter, following a rise of 7.2% in the June quarter 2021.
  • rose 22.4% over the last twelve months.

Price rises were most evident in the middle to upper ($1.1m and above) market segments.

Attached Dwellings Price Index                                

  • rose 2.9% this quarter, following a rise of 2.9% in the June quarter 2021.
  • rose 11.2% over the last twelve months.

Price rises were most evident in the middle to upper ($630,000 and above) segments of the market.

Brisbane (+6.1%)

 

Residential Property Price Index

  • rose 6.1% this quarter, following a rise of 5.7% in the June quarter 2021.
  • rose 19.7% over the last twelve months.

House Price Index

  • rose 6.9% this quarter.
  • rose 22.2% over the last twelve months.

Price rises were observed across all segments of the market.

Attached Dwellings Price Index

  • rose 2.3% this quarter.
  • rose 9.2% over the last twelve months.

Price rises were most evident in the middle ($320,000 to $410,000) market segments.

Adelaide (+5.9%)

Residential Property Price Index

  • rose 5.9% this quarter, following a rise of 5.3% in the June quarter 2021.
  • rose 19.0% over the last twelve months.

House Price Index

  • rose 6.8% this quarter.
  • rose 21.2% over the last twelve months.

Attached Dwellings Price Index

  • rose 2.2% this quarter.
  • rose 10.6% over the last twelve months.

Perth (+2.0%)

    Residential Property Price Index

    • rose 2.0% this quarter, following a rise of 4.8% in the June quarter 2021. 
    • rose 15.7% over the last twelve months.

    House Price Index

    • rose 2.2% this quarter.
    • rose 16.6% over the last twelve months.

    Attached Dwellings Price Index

    • rose 1.2% this quarter. 
    • rose 11.9% over the last twelve months.

    Hobart (+8.2%)

        Residential Property Price Index

        • rose 8.2% this quarter, following a rise of 6.3% in the June quarter 2021.
        • rose 25.7% over the last twelve months. This is the largest annual rise since the commencement of the series.

        House Price Index

        • rose 8.3% this quarter.
        • rose 26.3% over the last twelve months.

        Attached Dwellings Price Index

        • rose 7.4% this quarter.  
        • rose 23.4% over the last twelve months. This is the largest annual rise since the commencement of the series.

         

        Darwin (+1.6%)

        Residential Property Price Index

        • rose 1.6% this quarter, following a rise of 4.6% in the June quarter 2021.
        • rose 13.7% over the last twelve months.

        House Price Index

        • rose 1.5% this quarter. 
        • rose 14.5% over the last twelve months.

        Attached Dwellings Price Index

        • rose 2.1% this quarter.
        • rose 12.1% over the last twelve months.

        Canberra (+6.0%)

          Residential Property Price Index

          • rose 6.0% this quarter, following a rise of 8.2% in the June quarter 2021.
          • rose 25.2% over the last twelve months. This is the largest annual rise since the commencement of the series.

          House Price Index

          • rose 7.1% this quarter.
          • rose 28.5% over the last twelve months.

          Attached Dwellings Price Index

          • rose 2.5% this quarter.
          • rose 15.3% over the last twelve months.

               

          Total value of dwelling stock

          The preliminary estimate of the total value of residential dwellings in Australia in the September quarter 2021 was $9,259.2 billion, up $487.0 billion from $8,772.2 billion in the June quarter 2021. 

          This was the first time that the total value of residential dwellings has exceeded $9 trillion. Of the total value of residential dwellings, $8,849.7 billion was owned by households.

          The number of residential dwellings rose by 44,600 to 10,720,500, and the mean price of residential dwellings rose $42,000 to $863,700, this quarter. 

          The value of residential dwellings in NSW this quarter was $3,707.7 billion, approximately 40 per cent of the total value of dwellings in Australia. 

          The mean price of residential dwellings in NSW rose by $65,100 to $1,118,200 and was the highest in the country. The second highest mean price was in the Australian Capital Territory ($949,700), followed by Victoria ($920,800).  The lowest mean price ($476,900) 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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          We will transition to releasing Excel files in .XLSX format from the December quarter 2021 release.

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