Photo: George Marks/Retrofile/Getty.

Australian capital city house prices inched higher in the final quarter of 2015 with the ABS reporting an increase of 0.2%.

The figure, a sharp deceleration on the 2.0% increase reported previously, left capital city house prices up 8.7% on the December quarter of 2014.

Weakness in Sydney’s once red-hot residential property market was largely behind the subdued national increase. According to the ABS, prices for detached housing fell by 2.1% over the quarter, outpacing a 0.8% decline in detached dwelling prices.

In other capital cities, prices rose in Melbourne (+1.6%), Brisbane (+1.6%), Adelaide (+0.9%), Canberra (+2.8%), Perth (+0.5%) and Hobart (+2.5%). Darwin, at -1.8%, was the only capital aside from Sydney that saw prices fall during the quarter.

The table below, supplied by the ABS, reveals the quarterly and annual change in residential property prices by capital city over the December quarter.

As a result of the small quarterly increase recorded nationally, the value of Australia’s 9.6 million residential dwellings rose by a combined $31.6 billion to $5.9 trillion, the highest level on record.

The ABS reports the mean value of a residential dwelling is now $612,100, dragged higher by the sheer size and value of property in Australia’s two largest housing markets, Sydney and Melbourne.

According to the ABS, there were 97,087 residential property transfers recorded nationwide during the quarter, accounting for a smidge over 1% of Australia’s estimated residential housing stock.

The chart below reveals the evolution in median residential property values by state and territory since 2011.

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