Property price falls slow, but 0.7 per cent declines felt in June quarter: ABS

Despite the continued resurgence in the property market, capital city residential prices dropped 0.7 per cent over the June quarter, according to figures released by the ABS.

It's considerably less than the three per cent declines seen in the March quarter. Every capital city had recorded price declines.

Sydney and Melbourne had been the biggest drivers over the March quarter, but this time it was Darwin (-1.8 per cent) and Perth (-1.4 per cent) leading the declines given the Sydney and Melbourne resurgence.

Melbourne (-0.8 per cent) was the third worst performing capital over the June quarter, followed by Brisbane (-0.7 per cent) then Adelaide (-0.6 per cent).

Sydney saw declines of -0.5 per cent, a considerable bounce back from its -3.9 per cent declines over the March quarter.

ABS chief economist Bruce Hockman said the falls in Melbourne were driven by detached dwellings, while attached dwellings drove the fall in Sydney.

To enlarge the capital city June quarter performance, click here.

"Sydney and Melbourne housing markets have seen residential property price falls moderate this quarter," Hockman said.

"A number of housing market indicators, such as auction volumes and clearance rates, have begun to show signs of improvement, though they remain below the levels seen one year earlier".

Hobart (+0.5 per cent) and Canberra (+0.2 per cent) were the only capitals to record price growth over the June quarter.

Through the year, residential property prices fell 7.4 per cent to the June quarter 2019.

Prices fell 9.6 per cent in Sydney and 9.3 per cent in Melbourne.

Hobart (+2.0 per cent) was the only capital city to record positive through the year growth.

The REIA recently suggested the market hit the bottom over the June quarter.