Brisbane house prices hold firm for first time in two years as national housing market 'consolidates': APM

Brisbane ended a run of eight consecutive quarters of house price declines as capital city house prices barely moved in the September quarter, according to the latest data from Australian Property Monitors (APM).

The median Brisbane house price was almost unchanged at $430,965 over the September quarter, though still down 1.2% year-on-year.

APM revised the Brisbane June 2012 figure upwards from a previously reported $427,933 to $430,844.

APM senior economist Dr Andrew Wilson called the steady result for Brisbane “encouraging” and a “positive indication the market may have finally bottomed out".

Across the country, the national median house price was also unchanged at $533,480, while unit prices declined by 1.1% to a median of $406,415.

This followed revisions to June 2012 figures with house prices revised down from $536,075 to $533,695 and unit prices revised down from $411,810 to $410,981.

“Although buyer activity and prices growth appears to be generally consolidating, capital city markets and sub-markets continue to operate at different levels,” says Wilson.

The Melbourne unit market remains the weakest capital city market for both house and units, down 6.1% year-on-year.

It registered a 1.4% drop over the September quarter – the sixth consecutive quarterly fall – taking the median Melbourne unit price down a median of $381,154.

This follows APM revised the  June median Melbourne unit price down from $392,862 to $386,678.

On average, a Melbourne apartment is $24,000 cheaper to buy now that it was a year ago.

Wilson attributed the continued to decline of Melbourne unit prices to a “surplus of new supply in the marketplace” negating an increase in activity from first-home buyers.

At the other end of the spectrum Darwin units were the best performing market across both house and units, with the median price of a Darwin apartment rising by more than $30,000 (8.1%) over the three month period to a median of $406,099.

This followed revisions to the Darwin median house price in June revised down from $384,384 to $375,666.

Apart from the drop in Melbourne unit prices and strength in Darwin unit prices, the September quarter results show that both house and unit prices have essentially been treading water over the past 12 months.