The Housing Industry Association has welcomed data which revealed Australian real estate prices jumped 1.6 per cent in the December quarter of 2012.
Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) information the upswing in values is the strongest growth experienced for a quarter in nearly three years.
HIA economist Geordan Murray said the quarterly rise contributes to a 2.1 per cent growth over the entire year.
He explained: "The results may indicate that homebuyer demand improved in the last quarter of 2012.
"Interest rate cuts in late 2011 and throughout 2012 are an obvious contributor to this, but it could also be an early sign that after a few years of bolstering household balance sheets some would-be homebuyers may now feel more comfortable."
Mr Murray said that price rises were particularly obvious for real estate in Perth and real estate in Sydney and this is due to failures on providing for the demand. New housing has failed to keep up with the pace of sales and therefore this phenomenon is having an impact on pricing.
Sydney, Perth, Darwin and Canberra saw the biggest jump in the established house price index for the December quarter, increasing 2.3 per cent, 2.9 per cent, 2.6 per cent and 2.1 per cent, respectively.
