Australia's housing market took its biggest quarterly dive in five years in the first three months of this year, according to the latest survey figures.
The weighted average median house price dipped 2.7 per cent, slipping from $471,300 in the December 2007 quarter to $458,488 in the March 2008 quarter, according to the Mortgage Choice/REIA Real Estate Market Facts.
The weighted average price for other dwellings including flats, units and townhouses fell by 2.7 per cent in the quarter to $355,297.
Only two capital cities, Sydney and Perth, had a median house price above $450,000, down from four in the December quarter.
Melbourne continued to have the highest median price for other dwellings, while Hobart remained the cheapest capital in which to buy property.
Mortgage Choice and the Real Estate Institute of Australia (REIA) said the fall in the median house price was the biggest in the five years that they have been compiling the data.
The previous biggest dip in the national quarterly median house price was a drop of 2.0 per cent in the March quarter of 2005.
On a year-to-year basis, the Australian median house price increased by 8.3 per cent and the other dwelling price increased by 8.2 per cent, reflecting strong performances in some cities during 2007.
Rents for three-bedroom houses and two-bedroom other dwellings rose in all capital cities in the March quarter, indicating a continued shortage of rental properties, the figures showed.
The sharpest hikes were recorded in Darwin and Brisbane, where house rents went up 8.9 per cent and 6.7 per cent, respectively.
REIA president Noel Dyett said the median house price fall in the quarter was not surprising following interest rate rises aimed at curbing inflation.
"However, the fall in prices is being offset by the increased cost of financing home loans, so we have yet to see any real impact on housing affordability," Mr Dyett said.
Real Estate Institute of Queensland chairman Peter McGrath said housing markets across Australia had been affected by the uncertain economic climate and Queensland had fared much better than other parts of the country.
"This can be attributed to the influx of about 1200 new residents into the state every week, our healthy economy, low unemployment and surging coal prices," he said.
