Median house prices in five of Australia’s seven capital cities increased during the December quarter, according to recently released figures by the Real Estate Institute of Australia (REIA).

With every Australian capital except Perth and Canberra recording a quarterly house price increase, and other dwellings performing moderately, the weighted average capital city median price of the residential property market increased 2.4% over the quarter to reach $545,873, says the REIA.

The best performer for houses was Melbourne, which recorded a quarterly median price increase of 6.9% to reach $601,500, while Perth sits at the other end of the table at -1.8% ($480,000).

“Sydney, Melbourne and Darwin recorded the highest median house prices while the lowest were evident in Hobart, Adelaide and Brisbane,” said REIA president David Airey.

“The rate of house price growth slowed over the year and is approaching the ten year annual average of 6.1%. Compared to the same quarter of the previous year, house prices increased 6.1% nationally.”

When it came to non-house dwellings, the weighted average capital city median price increased just 0.8% over the quarter.

Darwin was the best performer for other dwellings, seeing a 6.4% increase to reach a median price of $438,000, while Canberra’s decrease of 2.3% was the worst performance in this category.