Australian capital city home values have fallen for a third straight month.

Figures from property research firms RP Data and Rismark show a 0.2 per cent decline in capital city home values last month.

Prices in the nation's major cities are now down 1.2 per cent over the past three months, after a revised 0.2 per cent decline in July and a 0.8 per cent fall in June.

Perth experienced the biggest falls, with home prices sliding 4.8 per cent during the three months to August, while Brisbane values were also down 2.3 per cent and Melbourne property values dropped 1.5 per cent.

The best results over winter were in Canberra (up 1.2 per cent) and Sydney (up 0.2 per cent).

House prices outside the capitals were steady last month, and down a more modest 0.2 per cent over the three months to August.

However, non-city house prices only rose 3.7 per cent over the past year compared to an 8 per cent gain for urban dwellings.

RP Data's research director Tim Lawless says the upswing in house prices over the past few years has well and truly ended.

"We have moved out of a very strong growth cycle and are now seeing ongoing consolidation in Australian house prices," he told ABC News Online.

He says the rise in interest rates and end to increased government first home buyer stimulus are contributing to the declines.

"We will see further interest rate rises coming through the Australian economy - for the Australian property market it's not a great thing," he said.

"Further rate rises will dampen the market further, but we do have a counter-balance in the sense that we do have unemployment at 5.1 per cent and trending downwards and very strong levels of consumer confidence and they're likely to play at odds with each other, which certainly suggests that we will see ongoing demand for Australian property, but certainly not at the same levels we have seen during 2009."

He says the property market is likely to be subdued overall for at least the next year.

"I would be very surprised if we saw any growth in Australian property markets for the remainder of the year," he said.

"We have seen a very strong marketplace that has outperformed incomes quite considerably, so we probably are in for a period now where incomes will catch up to property values, and hopefully address some of those affordability issues."

However, the news is better for landlords and worse for tenants as vacancy rates have continued to remain low.

"I wouldn't be surprised if by this time next year we've seen rents up by between eight and 10 per cent," Mr Lawless added.

"That's on the back of a very soft rental market in 2009, when rents actually fell by about 4 per cent."