Apartment prices dip in March quarter: ABS

Home values fell in the March quarter for the first time in two and a half years, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics' index of dwelling values across the eight capital cities.

The inxex fell 0.2 percent in the three months to March.

The December quarter had seen it plateau.

It was the first decline since the September quarter of 2012, when the index also fell 0.2 percent. 

The bigger dip were attached dwellings - apartments, townhouses and semi-detached homes - that fell 0.8 percent over the quarter.

In Sydney attached dwelling values fell 0.6 percent over the quarter, following a 0.8 percent decline in December.

Melbourne apartments fell 1.3 percent. 

Prices rose in Brisbane by 0.7 percent, Hobart (2.3 percent) and Darwin, where they gained 0.1 percent - the first increase after five quarters of decline. 

The national capital city weighted average index for prices of established houses was unchanged, however there was a 0.6 percent fall in Sydney house prices - the second quarterly fall after the December quarter's 2.1 percent decline.

The ABS data suggested Melbourne prices rose 1.4 percent and Brisbane houses increased 0.2 percent. Houses in Adelaide (0.6 percent) and Hobart (0.9 percent) also rose.

They fell 1.8 percent in Perth, 2.8 per cent in Darwin - their seventh consecutive quarterly decline - while there was a 0.1 percent dip in Canberra.

The total number of residential dwellings rose to 9,661,500 in the quarter from 9,622,500 in December.

The value of housing stock rose less than 1 percent to $5.93 trillion from $5.91 trillion.