Melbourne was the Australian city that saw the highest growth in house prices during the second quarter of 2017, new statistics reveal.
Asking prices for properties in the city rose by an average of three per cent between April and June, according to data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
This placed house price growth in Melbourne markedly above the national average, which came in at 1.9 per cent over the course of the three-month period.
Analysis of this data by CoreLogic shows that the overall average property price in Melbourne during the 12 months leading up to June came in at $675,000. Thanks to the area's growing popularity with millennials and businesspeople alike, it can be an extremely lucrative market for property investors to purchase in at present.
Sydney was the city with the second highest growth in property asking prices during the quarter, with these climbing by an average of 2.3 per cent. It was followed by Hobart, which recorded growth of 1.8 per cent, and Australian capital Canberra, where the cost of the average mortgage increased by 1.3 per cent.
Although average prices also rose in Adelaide and Brisbane, they did so at a softer pace, with rises of 0.8 per cent and 0.6 per cent respectively.
Falls were recorded in some areas, however, with average property prices in Darwin dropping by 1.4 per cent throughout the quarter and prices in Perth falling by 0.8 per cent.
Bruce Hockman, chief economist of the Australian Bureau of Statistics, commented: "Annual price movements ranged from minus 4.9 per cent in Darwin to plus 13.8 per cent in Sydney and Melbourne.
"These results highlight the diverse housing market and economic conditions in Australia's capital cities."
