December key statistics
| Sep Qtr 19 to Dec Qtr 19 | Dec Qtr 18 to Dec Qtr 19 | |
|---|---|---|
| Residential property prices | % change | % change |
| Weighted average of eight capital cities | 3.9 | 2.5 |
| Sydney | 4.7 | 3.7 |
| Melbourne | 5.2 | 4.1 |
| Brisbane | 1.8 | 0.3 |
| Adelaide | 1.4 | 0.3 |
| Perth | 1.1 | -2.5 |
| Hobart | 2.7 | 4.1 |
| Darwin | -0.8 | -5.5 |
| Canberra | 3.1 | 1.9 |
| Total value of the dwelling stock | Dec Qtr 19 |
|---|---|
| Value of dwelling stock(a) ($b) | 7,212.6 |
| Mean price of residential dwellings ($'000) | 691.0 |
| Number of residential dwellings ('000) | 10,437.9 |
- all sectors
December key points
The Residential Property Price Indexes
Weighted average of the eight capital cities Residential Property Price Index
- rose 3.9% this quarter.
- rose 2.5% over the last twelve months.
Capital city Residential Property Price Indexes
- rose in Sydney (+4.7%), Melbourne (+5.2%), Brisbane (+1.8%), Perth (+1.1%), Adelaide (+1.4%), Canberra (+3.1%) and Hobart (+2.7%), and fell in Darwin (-0.8%), this quarter.
- rose in Melbourne (+4.1%), Hobart (+4.1%), Sydney (+3.7%), Canberra (+1.9%), Brisbane (+0.3%) and Adelaide (+0.3%), and fell in Darwin (-5.5%) and Perth (-2.5%), over the last twelve months.
​​​​​​​Total value of the dwelling stock
- The total value of residential dwellings in Australia rose $294.4b to $7,212.6b this quarter.
- The mean price of residential dwellings rose $25,400 to $691,000.
- The number of residential dwellings rose by 43,400 to 10,437,900.
​​​​​​​Notes
Revisions
Revisions apply to estimates for the second and third most recent quarters of the total value of dwelling stock (see Preliminary and final series, under Total value of dwelling stock, in the Methodology page) and to median prices and transfers (see Price indexes, unstratified medians and transfers, under Interpreting outputs, in the Methodology page).
Use of price indexes in contracts
Price indexes published by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) provide summary measures of the movements in various categories of prices over time. They are published primarily for use in Government economic analysis. Price indexes are also often used in contracts by businesses and government to adjust payments and/or charges to take account of changes in categories of prices (Indexation Clauses).
Use of Price Indexes in Contracts sets out a range of issues that should be taken into account by parties considering including an Indexation Clause in a contract using an ABS published price index.
​​​​​​​Bushfires in December
Quality assurance undertaken by the ABS has confirmed that the bushfires did not result in quality impacts to residential property price statistics for the December quarter 2019. For information on the expected economic impacts of the bushfires and COVID-19, please see the ABS Chief Economist Series paper Measuring natural disasters in the Australian economy.