Australian house prices rise further

While there is anecdotal evidence that the boil may be coming off, the rise in house prices in Australia has been quite remarkable by world standards.

This graph from the Australian Bureau Statistics shows the weighted quarterly average increase in house prices in Australia's capital cities.

You can see how prices came of the boil during the global financial crisis, only to start ramping up again. Average weighted prices in the March quarter 2010 were up no less than 20% from 12 months before.

The biggest increase came in Melbourne (27.7%), followed by Sydney (21%).

According to ABS, both the Melbourne and Sydney increases in the most recent quarter came especially at the high end of the marketplace.

ABS does not give non-metropolitan figures. However, while not rigorous, the numbers I have seen suggest significant rises in regional Australia as well.