Properties in Melbourne led house price growth in Australia in July 2017, increasing in value by an average of 3.1 per cent over the course of the month.
This is according to new statistics compiled by CoreLogic, which show that property prices in Melbourne also grew by 4.1 per cent during the last quarter and are up by almost 16 per cent over the past year as a whole, ABC News reports.
Canberra was the location with the second biggest growth in house prices during July, with an average increase of 2.4 per cent. Sydney came in third with growth of 1.4 per cent, closely followed by Adelaide where property prices rose by an average of 1.1 per cent.
Less impressive growth was recorded in Hobart (0.9 per cent) and the non-capital areas (0.2 per cent), while house prices declined by 1.3 per cent in Perth, 1.2 per cent in Darwin and 0.7 per cent in Brisbane and the Gold Coast.
Over the last 12 months as a whole, average property prices have decreased by a significant 2.1 per cent in both Perth and Darwin, with average values in the latter falling by 15 per cent since 2014.
George Tharenou, chief economist at UBS Australia, commented: "We think that price growth has likely peaked already. Nonetheless, if house prices and credit growth (especially for investors) don't moderate, we now think that regulators are likely to further tighten macroprudential measures in the second half of 2017."
July is the first month where stamp duty concessions were available to first-time buyers and analysts believe that this may have had some bearing on an increase in activity in the Victoria and New South Wales markets.
However, as these were only introduced on July 1st, their effect is likely to be seen more strongly over the coming months, especially in October, when the Australian Bureau of Statistics will be publishing its latest housing finance data.
