“The largest increase in the median price for houses was seen in Hobart at 4.9 per cent, while for other dwellings Darwin’s 9.3 per cent increase was the highest.
“In contrast median house prices decreased in Adelaide and Perth and median prices for other dwellings decreased in Brisbane, Canberra and Perth,” he said.
Mr Gunning said over the quarter, median rents for three-bedroom houses decreased in most capitals except for Canberra.
“Adelaide had the largest decrease at 2.9 per cent, with the other capital cities having similar declines. Median rents for two-bedroom other dwellings increased in Canberra, Hobart and Sydney. In Melbourne, Adelaide, Perth and Darwin median rents for other dwellings declined with Brisbane having the highest decrease of 5.1 per cent.
“The weighted average vacancy rate for the eight capital cities remained steady at 2.8 per cent during the June quarter. Both Darwin and Perth continue to have high vacancy rates at 7.3 per cent and 6.9 per cent respectively, while Canberra recorded the largest decrease of 0.4 percentage points. Perth was the only capital city to see an increase with a rise of 0.8 per cent,” he said.
Mr Gunning said both investor finance and owner-occupied housing finance, excluding re-financing, showed strong increases of 12.8 per cent and 13.6 per cent respectively over the quarter.
“Whilst both increased, over the last eight quarters we have seen owner occupied financing greater than that of investors. The decline in investors is in response to the more rigid lending criteria imposed by APRA on investment property lending which is cooling the residential markets, particularly in Melbourne and Sydney.
“The past level of investor activity is flowing through in higher vacancy rates than has been the case for the last two years,” Mr Gunning said.
NSW
The median house price in Sydney increased to 2.3 per cent to $1,194,247 over the June quarter and 14.2 per cent over the previous year.
Median house prices increased in all NSW zones over the June quarter except Inner Sydney where the median house prices decreased by 3.6 per cent. Increases ranged from 2.0 per cent in Newcastle to 5.3 per cent in Outer Sydney.
The median rent for three-bedroom houses in Sydney decreased to $485 per week or 1.0 per cent over the June quarter but an increase of 3.2 per cent over the past year. The vacancy rate in Sydney decreased or 0.1 percentage points at 1.8 per cent over the quarter.