Hot property prices disguise cooling market
New data has revealed that three capital cities recorded double-digit house price increases during 2014.
Sydney's median house price reached $858,000 at the end of December after increasing 17.6 per cent during the year, according to CoreLogic RP Data.
Melbourne jumped 12.1 per cent to $660,000, while Brisbane rose 10.0 per cent to $492,000.
Prices in the other five capitals also grew faster than the inflation rate, with Adelaide up 9.0 per cent to $430,000 and Hobart up 8.8 per cent to $350,000.
Darwin climbed 6.9 per cent to $562,000, Perth grew 6.4 per cent to $550,000 and Canberra increased 3.8 per cent to $575,000.
Capital city house prices grew by an average of 12.6 per cent in 2014. However, if units are also included, price growth was only 7.9 per cent – compared to 9.8 per cent in 2013.
Price growth has declined since reaching 11.5 per cent at the end of April.
CoreLogic RP Data forecast last month that Brisbane, Adelaide and Hobart would be the only capitals to experience higher capital growth this year compared to last year.