House prices to take a breather after leap

Date: February 1, 2010
Publication:  Sydney Morning Herald

House prices are likely to soften in early 2010 and pick up later in the year despite the big leap recorded in a house price index, economists say.

The Australian house price index rose 5.2 per cent in the December quarter, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said today. This compares with an upwardly revised 4.4 per cent in the September quarter.
In the year to December, the house price index rose 13.6 per cent.

The median market forecast was for the house price index to have risen 3.5 per cent in the December quarter, for year on year rise of 11 per cent.

Softness ahead

However, CommSec economist Craig James said the ABS data…