Most markets growing under 5.0pc

Sydney remains Australia’s strongest market, with the median dwelling price reaching $723,000 at the end of January, according to CoreLogic RP Data.

That represented annual growth of 13.0 per cent, which was driven by a 13.8 per cent increase in house prices and 9.9 per cent increase in unit prices.

The median price for a Melbourne home jumped 7.0 per cent to $561,000, with houses up 7.5 per cent and units up 2.7 per cent.

Brisbane prices climbed 4.6 per cent to $458,000, with house values rising 5.1 per cent and unit values rising 0.3 per cent.

The median price for an Adelaide property rose 3.1 per cent to $410,000. That included rises of 2.9 per cent for houses and 4.5 per cent for units.

Hobart ranked fifth in the growth stakes, as the median grew 3.0 per cent to $341,000. House price growth of 3.8 per cent offset a 5.4 per cent decline in unit price growth.

Perth prices climbed 2.6 per cent to $525,000, with house prices up 2.7 per cent and unit prices up 1.4 per cent.

Darwin reported a 1.4 per cent increase to $525,000, which was driven by a 1.6 per cent increase in house values and a 0.7 per cent increase in unit values.

Canberra’s median fell 0.3 per cent to $523,000, with houses falling 0.5 per cent and units growing 1.4 per cent.

However, the state of the market looks very different if one looks at growth since the GFC rather than just over the past 12 months.

Sydney and Melbourne have led the way since the start of 2009, with median price gains of 57 per cent and 50 per cent respectively.

They have been followed by Darwin on 24 per cent, Canberra on 18 per cent, Perth on 17 per cent, Adelaide on 10 per cent and Brisbane on nine per cent.

Hobart’s median price has remained unchanged during the past six years.