The average asking price for a house in Australia was down 2.2 percent in the first quarter of 2009 compared to the previous three months, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said on Monday, versus forecasts for a flat reading after the revised 1.2 percent quarterly decline in the fourth quarter of 2008.
The main contributors to the decrease were Sydney (-2.9 percent), Melbourne (-2.3 percent), Perth (-3.6 percent), Brisbane (-1.1 percent) and Adelaide (-0.8 percent). These decreases were partially offset by increases in Darwin (+2.2 percent), Canberra (+0.5 percent) and Hobart (+0.1 percent).
On an annual basis, house prices dropped 6.7 percent after the revised 3.9 percent decline in the previous quarter.
House prices rose in Darwin (+10.8 percent) and Hobart (+0.6 percent), and fell in Perth (-10.1 percent), Sydney (-7.3 percent), Melbourne (-6.7 percent), Brisbane (-6.3 percent), Canberra (-5.1 percent), and Adelaide (-1.9 percent).
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June 19, 2026 16:46 ET Major central banks continued to dominate the economic news flow this week too, led by the Federal Reserve, as they announced their latest policy decisions. The Federal Reserve policy session was in focus as it was the first to be led by the new chief Kevin Warsh. In Europe, central banks of the U.K. and Switzerland announced their rate decisions. In Asia, the Bank of Japan drew attention for its policy moves, while data out of China threw some light on the state of the economy.