02 Jan 2014 Australian capital city house prices rise 10% in 2013
Capital city house prices rose by almost 10 per cent last year, the highest yearly growth in four years, as record low interest rates increased buyers’ appetites for residential property.
House prices rose a combined 1.4 per cent last month, led by a 4.3 per cent increase in Hobart and a 2.2 per cent lift in Melbourne, RP Data-Rismark monthly home value index released on Thursday showed.
Low interest rates and improved housing affordability have released much of the pent-up buyer demand built up over recent years, with rising prices reinstating the incentive to buy now rather than later.
The latest data came as negative gearing was put back in the spotlight by the release by the National Archives of Cabinet papers for 1986 and 1987. The papers showed that then treasurer Paul Keating had argued for the abolition of negative gearing, a tax break given to some property owners.
The sharp plunge in first-home buyer activity to record lows in recent months has also sparked a debate about housing affordability in Australia.
It was a year of two halves, with home values rising about 3 per cent in the first six months of the year, and by 6.6 per cent in the second-half of 2013.
Median house prices in 2013
- Sydney rose 14.5% to $655,250
- Melbourne rose 8.5% to $563,000
- Darwin rose 3.3% to $540,000
- Canberra rose 3.5% to $530,000
- Perth rose 9.9% to $520,000
- Brisbane rose 5.1% to $445,250
- Adelaide rose 2.8% to $386,000
- Hobart rose 2.2% to $330,000
- Capital city aggregate rose 9.8% to $540,000