Perth house prices struggle to meagre increase

Perth house prices eked out a small gain in October, new figures show, but the city’s property market is still one of the soggiest in the country.

RP Data-CoreLogic’s home value index showed Perth house values increased by 0.1 per cent last month.

It left house values flat for the quarter but over the year-to-date values in the city are down by 0.9 per cent.

Adelaide (down by 1.1 per cent), Hobart (down by 2.1 per cent), Darwin (down by 0.3 per cent) and Canberra (where values dropped by 2.4 per cent) also suffered declines during the same period.

They were out-stripped by Melbourne, where house values jumped by 2.1 per cent, in Sydney (up by 1.6 per cent) and Brisbane (up by 0.5 per cent).

Sydney remains the strongest market in the country with values up by 13.9 per cent so far this year, well ahead of Melbourne where values have climbed by 9.5 per cent through the first 10 months of 2014.

Perth unit values took a belting, down by 2.3 per cent. Through the quarter they have lost 3 per cent.

For the year to date, Perth units have improved in value by 1.5 per cent.

RP’s head of research Tim Lawless said it was clear that Perth and Canberra had moved through the peak of their growth cycles.

“Looking at the increase in home values over the 12 months to October, it is clear that the rate of capital growth is continuing to moderate,” he said.

While over the past year house values nationally have increased by 8.9 per cent, the growth is largely being driven by Sydney and Melbourne.

Mr Lawless said there were still positives across the country.

“Despite the fact that the annual increase in home values is slowing, other indicators remain strong,” he said.