The average price for a home in one of Australia's capital cities has jumped above $600,000, after prices surged nearly 10 per cent across the board over the last year.
Australian Bureau of Statistics data shows residential property prices in Australia's eight capital cities rose by 4.7 per cent over the three months to the end of June, taking the surge in home prices in the twelve month period to 9.8 per cent
The rapid increase took the price of the average residential dwelling to $604,700, rising by an average of more than $26,000 in the June quarter.
Sydney led the charge, with property prices ballooning 8.9 per cent in the June quarter, taking the year through June price growth to 18.9 per cent.
Melbourne's booming property market was close behind, with home price growth of 4.2 per cent in the latest quarter for an annual rise of 7.8 per cent.
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Record-low official interest rates have raised concerns of a speculative property bubble in Sydney and Melbourne, prompting a banking regulator crackdown on investment lending and loose credit requirements.
Outside Melbourne and Sydney however, property price increases were relatively subdued.
No other capital city posted house price growth above 1 per cent in the quarter or more than 3 per cent over the year.
House prices retreated in Perth, decreasing by 0.9 per cent in the June quarter, adding to a 1.2 per cent fall over the year. Darwin house prices declined 0.8 per cent in the three months to June and by 1.8 per cent over the year.
Perth and Darwin house prices are reflecting softening demand for property as the tail-end of the mining investment boom weighs on competition for homes.
The total value of Australian homes hit $5.76 trillion at the end of June, rising $272 billion over the three month period.
The number of dwellings increased by 38,400 to 9,528,300 homes in the same period.