Australian home prices increased in the three months to June 2012 but remain down on a year-on-year basis, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).
New figures from the ABS Index of Established House Prices show that prices rose by 0.5 per cent nationally over the three months, with increases seen in five of the country's capital cities.
However, they remain down by 2.1 per cent compared to the same period last year as the market begins to stage a recovery following a torrid six months.
Housing Industry Association senior economist Andrew Harvey said these results "may be an indication that we are returning to an environment of housing price growth in some of Australia's major housing markets".
This will come as a further dismissal of the "doomsayers" criticising the country's property sector and underlines the fact that the fundamentals of the housing market remain relatively strong, especially in comparison to slumps being seen elsewhere in the world.
Posted by Craig Francis
