High end charging ahead

HOUSING values are continuing their upward climb with the latest figures revealing a strong start to the year and values now higher than their previous 2010 peak

HOUSING values are continuing their upward climb. Picture; Supplied

HOUSING values are continuing their upward climb with the latest figures revealing a strong start to the year.

According to the latest RP Data-Rismark Home Value Index, capital city values jumped 1.2 per cent during January alone.

The latest increase means housing values have increased by 13.2 per cent since June 2012 and are now 4.8 per cent higher than their previous peak in October 2010.

Sydney and Melbourne were the best performers in the past year with values up 13.4 per cent and 11.9 per cent respectively in the year ending January 2014.

Every other capital city recorded growth of less than five per cent in the past year.

In January Melbourne was the top performer with values up 3.2 per cent, followed by Hobart where the values went up 2 per cent.

Hobart was also the strongest perofmer over three months with its values up by 5.8 per cent.

Sydney, one of last year's strongest performers only experienced an 0.8 per cent increase in values during January, although it still has the country's highest median dwelling price of $660,000.

Brisbane values continued their slow crawl upwards with a 0.7 per cent increase for January, while Adelaide experienced no growth at all during the month.

Perth and Darwin values both dropped 1.1 per cent in January.

The figures also showed that the premium end of the market has continued to gather pace during the past six months and was now showing the highest capital gains.

Premium dwelling values rose by 10.1 per cent during the past twelve months compared with a 9.5 per cent and 7.5 per cent capital gain across the mid-market and most affordable quarter of the market.

Mr Lawless said the results confirmed that Sydney and Melbourne were now well advanced in their growth cycle but he expects those "exuberant conditions'' to wind down during the year.

Rismark CEO, Ben Skilbeck, said while the growth in Melbourne and Sydney was expected to moderate, it was still unlikely there would be any price drops in the near future.

Mr Lawless said the latest figures were likely to dampen further speculation that there will be a cut to interest rates any time soon.

"Together with the higher than expected inflation reading and a lower Aussie dollar, the sustained growth in dwelling values is another factor the RBA is likely to consider when

deliberating on any movement in the cash rate," Mr Lawless said.