Australia home prices keep climbing on tight supply

Canberra [Australia], July 1: Australian home prices rose in June for a seventeenth straight month, as tight supply outweighed demand-side pressures of high interest rates, a cost of living squeeze and tight lending conditions, property consultant CoreLogic said.
Data from CoreLogic showed national home prices climbed 0.7% in June from May when it gained 0.8%. Prices are up 8.0% on a year earlier.
Across state capital cities, monthly prices rose the fastest in Perth, up 2.0%, while in Adelaide they increased 1.7%, and in Brisbane they were up 1.2%. Prices in Melbourne fell 0.2%.
Demand-side factors were influential in the state price moves, "especially with interstate migration rates tracking well above average in Western Australia, Queensland and previously South Australia", CoreLogic said.
Australian consumer inflation accelerated to a six-month high in May, while a key measure of core prices rose for a fourth month, according to data out last week, prompting markets to hike chances of another interest rate hike this year.
The Reserve Bank of Australia has held interest rates steady at 4.35% for five straight meetings.
Source: Fijian Broadcasting Corporation