Australia’s typical home price rose about $2000 in October. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Max Mason-Hubers

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Aussie home prices have recorded 22 consecutive months of growth, including a more than $43,500 surge in the past year — but efforts to improve affordability are still lagging.

PropTrack’s latest Home Price Index (HPI) revealed the nation’s $797,000 typical home price rose about $2000 (0.26 per cent) across October, bringing the year’s growth to 5.62 per cent.

PropTrack senior economist Eleanor Creagh said while the Consumer Price Index was now within the Reserve Bank’s 2-3 per cent target range, it was unlikely this would bring forward interest rate cuts and spark more rapid price rises in the short term.

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However, Ms Creagh said some prospective homebuyers would look to pre-empt an interest-rate cut and purchase a home now, with the expectation property prices would continue to rise.

According to The PropTrack, Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth and Sydney property values have dominated over the past year, rising 5-20 per cent.

Meanwhile median home values in Melbourne, Hobart and ACT decreased, though by less than 1.5 per cent.

However, in the past month Melbourne’s $793,000 median dwelling price rose 0.49 per cent to become the nation’s fastest growing capital in the short term.

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REA Group Senior Economist Eleanor Creagh said strong population growth was incentivising tenants to buy.

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In Sydney the $1.108m typical home gained 0.19 per cent across October and Brisbane’s $862,000 median dwelling price rose the same amount at 0.19 per cent, according to PropTrack’s analytics

However, AFR, which uses a different data gathering analytics method, reported Sydney house prices have fallen for the first time in almost two years.

Sydney house values fell 0.1 per cent in October, the first month-on-month decline since January 2023, the report claimed.

Sydney home prices have fallen for the first time in almost two years, according to one metric.

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That recorded downturn was put down to weaker conditions in the most expensive areas of the market.

The upper quartile of the Sydney market has suffered a 1.1 per cent fall in values over the past three months, according to the publication.

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Adelaide’s $783,000 median rose 0.43 per cent as the nation’s second fastest growing capital for the timeline.

Ms Creagh said strong population growth and tight rental market conditions were incentivising tenants to buy, which was why Perth, Adelaide and Brisbane had outperformed in the past year.

She added that many existing homeowners were also realising their equity gains and upgrading, adding to demand and the persistent rise in home values.

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Home Price Index October 2024: Source PropTrack.

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Ms Creagh said while Adelaide, Brisbane and Perth had initially attracted buyers because of their comparative affordability, this had begun to erode.

However, she noted that each capital city was at a different stage in its property market cycle and many factors had influenced price growth since the pandemic.

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Real Estate Institute of Australia president Leanne Pilkington said many property investors were leaving New South Wales and Victoria and heading to Adelaide, Perth and Queensland especially.

“Queensland is the most popular for the investors right now, but Adelaide and Perth earlier in the year had that level of popularity as well,” Ms Pilkington.

“(There are) a combination of reasons. Price is obviously one of them, but also more favourable rental regulations. There’s a lot more regulation happening in Victoria and New South Wales.”

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Real Estate Institute of Australia president Leanne Pilkington said investors were targeting areas like Adelaide, Perth and Queensland. Picture: Supplied

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This comes as Australian Bureau of Statistics data showed the nation’s building approvals hit a 15-month high, rising by 4.4 per cent in September to 14,842, and 6.3 per cent across the quarter.

The Albanese government has set a 1.2 million new homes target under the National Housing Accord for the next five years in a bid to improve housing affordability.

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Master Builders Australia’s chief economist Shane Garrett said September had been the best month for building approvals since May last year, but there was still a long way to go to meet the federal government’s target.

“Home building approvals seem to be finding some momentum – but the challenge of ending the housing crisis is still formidable,” Mr Garrett said.

“The past year has seen less than 168,000 new homes approved for building, well below the 240,000 homes needed per year.”

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