Small Capital Cities Lead the Way

Australia’s smaller capital cities are continuing to lead the way for property price growth.

New data from Cotality shows that in the past month house values are up the most in Perth, Darwin, Brisbane and Adelaide, while Sydney and Melbourne recorded small declines.

The pattern is repeated over the past 12 months with median house values up by 24.3% in Perth, 19.7% in Darwin, 19% in Brisbane and 11.4% in Adelaide.

While Melbourne and Sydney median house prices still increased in the past 12 months, the increases are much smaller at 3.4% and 4.8%, respectively.

Cotality research director, Tim Lawless, says the mid-sized capitals continue to reach record highs.

“Housing outcomes are increasingly diverse from city to city and across the pricing spectrum,” he says.

“The mid -sized capitals, as well as Darwin, are all recording growth of 1.2% or more on a month -to – month basis, while Sydney and Melbourne navigate a subtle decline trend that has been evident since December last year.”