Residential property prices in Australia rose by 1.9 per cent in the June quarter 2017, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). 

Sydney experienced a 2.3 per cent rise and Melbourne, a 3.0 per cent rise. 

This has been the third quarter in a row that Melbourne’s property price growth has outpaced Sydney.

“Residential property prices, while continuing to rise in Melbourne and Sydney this quarter, have begun to moderate. Annual price movements ranged from -4.9 per cent in Darwin to +13.8 per cent in Sydney and Melbourne. These results highlight the diverse housing market and economic conditions in Australia’s capital cities,” Chief Economist for the ABS, Bruce Hockman said. 

The two cities have shown the same annual price growth at 13.8 per cent. Hobart followed, with a 12.4 per cent rise. 

“Sydney has lost a little bit of momentum. It does seemed to have slowed down a bit,” AMP Capital chief economist Shane Oliver said. 

“Melbourne hasn’t slowed as much. I think that reflects the stronger population growth there,” he added. 
Domain Group chief economist Andrew Wilson said that Sydney’s markets have run out of puff, and its prices are starting the decline. He explained that Sydney, which had the highest level of investors had been hit by the decline in the investor activity “off the back of tightened lending measures”. 

Dr Wilson expects the growth to be flat for Sydney over the September quarter. 

However, even if Melbourne is experiencing a higher rise, Sydney prices are about 40 per cent higher than Melbourne’s. 

Comparatively, residential property in Perth and Darwin experienced a 0.8 per cent and 1.4 fall respectively.