SEPTEMBER KEY FIGURES

	Jun Qtr 11 to Sep Qtr 11	Sep Qtr 10 to Sep Qtr 11
Established house prices	% change	% change
Weighted average of eight capital cities	-1.2	-2.2
Sydney	-0.2	-0.3
Melbourne	-1.7	-2.1
Brisbane	-2.5	-5.2
Adelaide	-0.9	-3.2
Perth	-1.3	-4.2
Hobart	-1.0	-0.3
Darwin	-0.4	-4.4
Canberra	-2.0	-2.2

Established house prices, Weighted average of eight capital cities - Quarterly % change

Established house prices, Quarterly % change - September quarter 2011

SEPTEMBER KEY POINTS


ESTABLISHED HOUSE PRICES

Quarterly Changes

• Preliminary estimates show the price index for established houses for the weighted average of the eight capital cities decreased 1.2% in the September quarter 2011.
• The capital city indexes decreased in Melbourne (-1.7%), Brisbane (-2.5%), Perth (-1.3%), Sydney (-0.2%), Adelaide (-0.9%), Canberra (-2.0%), Hobart (-1.0%) and Darwin (-0.4%).

Annual Changes (September Quarter 2010 to September Quarter 2011)

• Preliminary estimates show that the price index for established houses for the weighted average of the eight capital cities decreased 2.2% in the year to September quarter 2011.
• Annually, house prices decreased in Brisbane (-5.2%), Darwin (-4.4%), Perth (-4.2%), Adelaide (-3.2%), Canberra (-2.2%), Melbourne (-2.1%), Sydney (-0.3%) and Hobart (-0.3%).

NOTES

FORTHCOMING ISSUES

ISSUE (QUARTER)	Release Date
December 2011	1 February 2012
March 2012	1 May 2012
June 2012	1 August 2012
September 2012	6 November 2012

CHANGES IN THIS ISSUE

There are no changes in this issue.


REVISIONS

Estimates for the two most recent quarters of the HPI series are preliminary and subject to revision (see paragraphs 15 to 19 of the Explanatory Notes).

The series for the median price of established house transfers (unstratified) and the number of established house transfers (published in Tables 7 and 8 respectively) are also subject to revision as the ABS receives more data from the Valuers-General. A change to data provision and a review of ABS processes in the September quarter 2011 have led to larger than usual revisions to these series.


IMPACT OF FLOODS

Collection of house price data was not impacted by the floods in Brisbane in January 2011. Based on Valuers-General data, the number of transactions of established houses in Brisbane decreased in the March quarter 2011. However, it is not possible to isolate the effect of flooding in parts of the Brisbane Statistical Division from an overall decrease in market activity. In this issue (September quarter 2011), the final house price index result and the unstratified median house price for Brisbane for the March quarter 2011 are available.


INQUIRIES

For further information about these and related statistics, contact the National Information and Referral Service on 1300 135 070 or Mark Dubner on Sydney (02) 9268 4448.