MEDIA RELEASE
13 May 2014	Embargo: 11.30 am (Canberra time)	59/2014

Sydney continues to drive residential property price increases with the Residential Property Price Index (RPPI) for Sydney rising 2.3 per cent in the March quarter 2014 according to figures released today by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). Established house prices for Sydney rose 2.4 per cent and attached dwellings rose 2.0 per cent in the March quarter 2014.

Director of RPPI at the ABS, Ms Robin Ashburn said whilst the quarterly growth in Sydney has slowed from the December quarter, throughout the year house prices in Sydney have risen 16.6 per cent and attached dwelling prices have risen 13.7 per cent - both the largest annual rises of all cities."

"For the weighted average of the eight capital cities, the RPPI rose 1.7 per cent in the March quarter 2014. The index rose 10.9 per cent over the previous year, the largest annual increase since the June quarter 2010.

"As well as the rise in Sydney, the RPPI rose in Melbourne (+2.1 per cent), Perth (+1.1 per cent), Brisbane (+0.8 per cent), Adelaide (+0.7 per cent), Hobart (+1.4 per cent) and Darwin (+1.1 per cent). Canberra was the only city to record a fall in the RPPI (–0.1 per cent).

"The rise in prices has contributed to a rise in the total value of residential dwellings to $5.1 trillion in the March quarter 2014. The average value of Australia's 9.3 million residential dwellings was $546,500," said Ms Ashburn.


Media notes:

• Established houses are detached residential dwellings on their own block of land regardless of age.
• Attached dwellings includes flats, units and apartments plus semi-detached, row and terrace houses.
• The value and mean price of residential dwellings includes any land.
• When reporting ABS data the Australian Bureau of Statistics (or ABS) must be attributed as the source.
• Media requests and interviews - contact the ABS Communications Section on 1300 175 070.