Since the property market bottomed out in May last year, capital city residential home values have grown a cumulative 7%, suggesting that the market is well past ‘recovery’ stage.

RP Data released housing results showed dwelling values increased by half a per cent over August, a slowdown from previous months, but an encouraging sign for the market.

July growth was recorded at 1.6% and June growth at 1.9%, taking the rolling three month change in capital city dwelling values to 4%. This is the highest rate of capital gain since the three months ending April 2010.

RP Data research director Tim Lawless said the slower month-on-month result is a welcome development for the sustainability of Australian dwelling values.

“The half a per cent gain over the month of August is a much more sustainable rate of growth,” he said. “It is important to remember that the average annual capital gain over the past decade has been just 4.3% across the combined capital cities.”

Lawless attributed the softer housing market conditions over August to a lower rate of growth in Sydney and Melbourne, where dwelling values rose 0.6% and 0.2% respectively.

Other cities recorded falls in values. Hobart saw the largest decline with a 1.2% fall. Perth values slipped 0.2%.

The most significant turnaround in market conditions was in Brisbane where the monthly rate of growth jumped 1.5%.

“Brisbane’s housing market has been underperforming since [the] GFC,” Lawless said. “Home values are still almost 10% lower than their previous peak back in November 2009… potentially marking a positive turning point for Brisbane’s housing market.”