THE Australian house price index rose 2.2 per cent in the September quarter, with boom city Perth leading the gains but Sydney lagging other cities, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said today.
In the year to September the house price index increased 9.
5 per cent.
Economists had expected a rise of 0.9 per cent in the September quarter.
House prices rose a revised 3.5 per cent rise in the June quarter.
House prices rose in all cities.
Perth, which has benefited from the mining boom, recorded the biggest jump, up 10.1 per cent.
Then came Canberra (up 3.
8 per cent), Darwin (up 3.1 per cent), Melbourne ( up 1.7 per cent), Hobart ( up 1.
5 per cent), Brisbane ( up 0.9 per cent), Adelaide ( up 0.6 per cent) and last of all, Sydney ( up 0.
2 per cent).
Annually, house prices rose in all cities. Perth let the gains, with prices up a whopping 45.
9 per cent followed by Darwin ( up 17.3 per cent).
In other cities, house prices rose 10.
5 per cent in Canberra, followed by Hobart ( up 9.4 per cent), Melbourne ( up 7.5 per cent), Brisbane (up 6.
5 per cent), then Adelaide (up 6.4 per cent) and last again, Sydney ( up 1.4 per cent).
A rise in official interest rates is expected to cap growth in house prices. The central bank has raised official interest rates to 6.25 per cent from 6.
0 per cent. The last time official rates sat this high was August 2000.
The RBA has raised the cash rate three times in six months, and there are possibilities of more rate rises next year as inflation refuses to back down below 3 per cent.
However, the global commodity boom will keep upward pressure on house prices in Perth and Darwin, which have benefited from a surge in property demand given strong population growth in the cities.
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