Australia posted a seasonally adjusted merchandise trade surplus of A$602 million in June, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said on Tuesday - jumping 19 percent compared to the previous month.
The headline figure was well shy of forecasts for a surplus of A$800 million following the downwardly revised surplus of A$507 million in May (originally reported as A$670 million).
Exports shed 1.0 percent on month in June to A$26.077 billion, down from A$26.376 billion in May.
Non-monetary gold lost A$282 million (20 percent) and non-rural goods shed A$34 million. Rural goods added A$22 million (1 percent) and net exports of goods under merchanting collected A$1 million (8 percent). Services credits fell A$6 million.
Imports dipped 2.0 percent on month to A$25.475 billion, down from A$25.869 billion in the previous month.
Intermediate and other merchandise goods lost A$598 million (7 percent) and non-monetary gold shed A$59 million (14 percent). Capital goods climbed A$163 million (3 percent) and consumption goods gained A$80 million (1 percent). Services debits collected A$19 million.
In original terms, the balance on goods and services for 2012-13 was a deficit of A$9.4 billion, a turnaround of A$13.2 billion on the surplus of A$3.8 billion recorded in 2011-12.
The swing results from a A$15.3 billion (5 percent) decrease in goods and services credits partly offset by a A$2.1 billion (1 percent) decrease in goods and services debits.
Also on Tuesday, the ABS said that house prices in Australia climbed 2.4 percent in the second quarter of 2013 compared to the previous three months.
That surpassed forecasts for a gain of 1.0 percent following the 0.1 percent increase in the first quarter.
By region, the capital city indexes rose in Sydney (+2.7 percent), Melbourne (+2.4 percent), Perth (+3.4 percent), Brisbane (+1.9 percent), Canberra (+1.0 percent), Adelaide (+0.3 percent) and Darwin (+2.9 percent) and fell in Hobart (-1.0 percent).
On a yearly basis, house prices spiked 5.1 percent versus forecasts for an increase of 3.0 percent after adding 2.6 percent in the first quarter.
By region, house prices rose in Perth (+11.0 percent), Darwin (+7.7 percent), Sydney (+6.1 percent), Brisbane (+3.7 percent), Melbourne (+3.3 percent), Canberra (+2.6 percent), Hobart (+1.2 percent) and Adelaide (+0.6 percent).
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