Residential property prices rose 6.7 per cent in the June quarter 2021, the strongest quarterly growth since the Residential Property Price Index series began in the September quarter 2003, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).
The total value of Australia’s 10.7 million residential dwellings rose by $596.4 billion to $8,924.6 billion in the June quarter 2021, the largest quarterly rise on record. The mean price of residential dwellings in Australia rose by $52,600 to $835,700. The mean price of residential dwellings in NSW ($1,093,100) remained the highest in the country, with the ACT ($891,700) now the second highest, marginally ahead of Victoria ($891,500).
All capital cities recorded a rise in residential property prices in the June quarter 2021. Prices in all cities apart from Perth and Darwin rose at rates not seen in many years:
Canberra (+8.2 per cent) had the largest quarterly rise since the commencement of the series in the September quarter 2003
Sydney (+8.1 per cent) had the largest quarterly rise since the June quarter 2015, and the second largest in the series
Hobart (+6.3 per cent) had the largest quarterly rise since the December quarter 2003
Melbourne (+6.1 per cent) had the largest quarterly rise since the December quarter 2009
Brisbane (+5.7 per cent) had the largest quarterly rise since the June quarter 2007
Adelaide (+5.3 per cent) had the largest quarterly rise since the December quarter 2007
ABS Head of Prices Statistics Michelle Marquardt said: “The continued growth in property prices was occurring at a time of record low interest rates. Persistently low levels of stock on the market were being met with strong demand and properties transacting at an increasingly rapid rate.
“With the exception of Hobart and Darwin, capital cities continued to see house price rises outpace those of attached dwellings such as apartments and units, with price growth for both property types being driven by the upper segments of the market,” Ms Marquardt said.
The combined capital cities saw house prices rise 7.7 per cent, while attached dwelling prices rose 4.3 per cent. Canberra was the only capital city to experience record quarterly growth in both the House Price Index (+8.9 per cent) and the Attached Dwelling Price Index (+6.0 per cent) in the June quarter 2021.
This article was first published in The Fence magazine.
