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House sales have reported annual rises in most Australian capitals, although quarterly figures hint at a possible downturn.
RP Data has reported that there were 50,426 houses sold in Australia’s capital cities for the 12 months to 31 March 2014, which was 7.9 per cent higher than the year before.
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Brisbane recorded the greatest annual growth in house sales, with 23.6 per cent, followed by Adelaide with 13.6 per cent and Sydney with 13 per cent.
There was also growth of 11.2 per cent for Canberra, 6 per cent for Hobart and 2.8 per cent for Melbourne.
Darwin house sales fell by 6 per cent, while Perth sales fell by 5.9 per cent.
Unit sales in Australia’s capitals also grew 1.2 per to 22,105.
The star performers were Darwin, with 23.3 per cent growth, and Brisbane, which recorded a 15.2 per cent jump in sales.
Melbourne grew by 8.1 per cent, Adelaide by 2.4 per cent and Hobart by 0.8 per cent.
Three markets went backwards: Canberra fell by 23.9 per cent, Perth by 17.6 per cent and Sydney by 1.7 per cent.
RP Data research analyst Cameron Kusher said the March quarter was the strongest quarter for house sales since 2009 and the strongest for units since 2010.
Sales declined from the December quarter, although he noted that volumes generally drop in the new year due to a lack of activity throughout most of January and often into February.
“With the quarterly rate of home value growth having most recently peaked in September 2013 and quarterly sales having peaked shortly thereafter in November, it will be interesting to watch what happens to sales and values from here,” he said.
[Related: Have house prices finally peaked?]
