Johnston and Kalgoorlie strongest regional WA housing markets, with Hotham prices languishing: ANZ

Regional areas have outperformed capital cities in the year to March, according to ANZ.

"Despite being lower in annual growth terms, regional house prices have been more stable than capital city house prices, which have seen larger price falls across all major states and territories," notes the Australian Housing Chartbook.

"Across states/territories and regions, house price growth has continued to differ, reflecting varying economic performance across Australian industries."

"House price growth in WA regional centres has counter-intuitively been the weakest, with house prices in many centres lower in the year to March," says the report.

"Of note, house price growth in the Greenough River and Moore regions weremuch weaker in March 2012 (-6.5% and -4.7% respectively) compared to September 2011 (+1.3% and +0.6%respectively). Nonetheless, the economic benefits from major mining and energy projects in WA should boost house prices in many WA major regional centres over the next 12-18 months."

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Source RP Data, Rismark, ANZ