A wrap of the nation's property market for the week ending September 26th

CAPITAL city home values have grown 0.9 per cent, led by a 2.4 per cent surge in Melbourne.

September’s rise in home values, reported by CoreLogic RP Data, pushed the annual rate of home price inflation to 11 per cent across the eight state and territory capitals.

That is up from 10.2 per cent in the year to August.

Sydney and Melbourne are still the drivers of that growth, with prices up 16.7 per cent in Sydney and 14.2 per cent in Melbourne, and a big step down to 4.6 per cent in Brisbane and 0.6 per cent in Canberra.

Prices fell over the year to September in all the other capitals, with Darwin’s 3.9 per cent drop the steepest.

The median dwelling value in Sydney was $785,000, according to CoreLogic RP Data, with Melbourne in line with the national average of $580,000, and all other capitals below that mark.

CommSec chief economist Craig James said September’s house price gains came in most cities.

“Across the nation home prices are starting to look healthier with the gains more widespread across the states, rather than being just Sydney or Melbourne based,” he said.

In the booming Sydney market, price rises are likely to be more muted in the coming months, Mr James said, due to tighter lending policies among the banks and new housing supply.

The CoreLogic RP Data report also showed house prices remained high relative to the rental earnings they offered investors. Gross rental yields — rents as a proportion of home values — remained near their historic lows in September, at 3.4 per cent on average for houses and 4.3 per cent for home units.

That compares with 4.2 per cent for houses and 4.8 per cent for units three years earlier.

The lowest yields were for houses in Melbourne, at 2.9 per cent, while the highest were for units in Darwin, where rents were 5.8 per cent of the value.

CAPITAL CITY HOME VALUES

● Sydney: up 16.7 per cent in year to Sept, median price $785,000

● Melbourne: up 14.2 per cent, $580,000

● Brisbane: up 4.6 per cent, $460,000

● Adelaide: down 0.3 per cent, $405,000

● Perth: down 0.9 per cent, $492,200

● Hobart: down 0.2 per cent, $305,500

● Darwin: down 3.9 per cent, $542,500

● Canberra: up 0.6 per cent, $551,000

● Combined: up 11 per cent, $580,000

Source: CoreLogic RP Data