In short:

Australian house and unit prices have risen for a sixth straight quarter.

Record prices were set in four capital cities.

What’s next?

An economist expects demand to remain strong despite economic headwinds.

Australian house prices have risen for a sixth straight quarter, according to analysis by Domain.

Over the June quarter, new record prices were set in Sydney, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth.

And with a 7 per cent annual rise in homes on the market, sellers maintained their confidence in the strength of the market.

“The housing market remains resilient despite low consumer sentiment, economic pressures and high interest rates,” Domain’s chief of research and economics, Dr Nicola Powell said.

Demand in the market is being propped up by those with leverage from property they already own, and buyers backed by the bank of ‘mum and dad’.

“[These are] factors likely to become stronger due to persistent price growth,” Dr Powell said.

Not enough houses

Once again, a lack of supply was also fuelling the prices.

“Supply still remains constrained overall, weighed against a surge in demand from strong population growth and a tight rental market,” Dr Powell said.

Australia’s housing supply is still playing catch up, evidenced by a “large wedge” between new house completions and commencements, JP Morgan researcher Tom Kennedy said in note published on Tuesday.

An increase in the number of abandoned housing construction projects or issues within the construction industry are suspected to be causing the usually highly correlated data sets to diverge. 

“The [2020] surge in commencements was expected to lead an upturn in new dwelling completions,” he said.

“To date this dynamic hasn’t played out, with completions remaining low in the range.”

The wedge is the result of either an increase in project abandonment rates or ongoing construction delays.(Supplied: JP Morgan)

Slowing growth

While both house and unit prices rose for a sixth and fifth straight quarter respectively, the rate of growth is slowing when compared with the same period last year.

The slowdown is more pronounced for units, which grew at a rate more than four times slower than the previous quarter, marking the weakest outcome since early 2023,” the Domain report said.

“It has led to a slowdown in annual gains for the first time this growth cycle for both combined capital house and unit prices.”