House prices throughout Australia reached new peaks in July according to new figures from PropTrack. It says while July is typically the slowest month for house price growth, nationally house prices were up by 0.8%.

This led to a 6.28% increase in the past 12 months with Perth leading the pack with prices up by 23%, Adelaide up 15%, Brisbane up 14%, Sydney by 7%, Darwin, up 4% and the ACT up 1%. Melbourne is down 1% and Hobart is down 2%.

PropTrack senior economist Paul Ryan says the growth in Perth is “quite astonishing”. He attributes the softness in Melbourne and the ACT to a solid flow of new properties coming onto the market. With rental availability remaining low Ryan believes prices will continue to rise.

The unit markets have also performed solidly in the past 12 months with price growth in most capital cities. The strongest growth was 19% in Perth, 17% in Brisbane and 12% in Adelaide.