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Australian house prices have enjoyed their strongest quarterly growth since 2003, according to Australian property Monitors (APM).
APM economist Matthew Bell said the national housing market had continued to boom in the last three months following a very strong June quarter.
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House price growth reached 3.7 per cent for the quarter, the highest rate in six years.
Median house prices for the nation have leapt 6.5 per cent to just above $500,000 over the 12 months to September.
According to a recent real estate industry recent straw poll, current market conditions favour investors.
Of the 315 agents surveyed, 41.6 per cent believed the current market favoured investors, 27.3 per cent thought the market favoured up graders, 16.8 per cent said first home buyers were dominant and 14.3 per cent said each market was enjoying increased activity.
Albert Sassoon, principal of Laing + Simmons Bondi Beach, said that investors were the strongest players in his business.
“Prices are down from where they were 12 months ago, so investors are infiltrating the market to snap up a bargain,” he said.
According to Mr Sassoon, there has been a lot of activity in the top end of the market thanks to an influx of stock coming on to the market.
“Normally the high-end properties come on to the market very infrequently, however, we have seen a fair bit of stock go up for sale over the past few months. That said, there is still a lack of supply in the housing industry and I believe this problem will remain for some time.”
Mr Bell said the surge in buyers entering the top-end of the market was due to improving employment results and share market increases.
“Buyers are stepping into the oversold top-end of the market to purchase properties at prices still below their highs in late 2007,” Mr Bell said.
