Sydney Homes
Workers renovate a house in the Sydney suburb of Cammeray, Australia, August 3, 2015. Reuters/David Gray

Ahead of a forecast of house price drops in key Australian cities in 2018, latest reports show that there is no slowdown in the rise of home prices in big east coast cities. Latest CoreLogic figures say prices of dwelling units went up by an average of 0.5 percent across Australia in October.

Reckoned from the previous quarter, the increase was by 2.7 percent, while compared to a year ago, current house prices are 7.5 percent more expensive now. If compared to prices at the start of the year, the increase was about more than 9 percent, according to Tim Lawless, research director of CoreLogic, ABC reports.

The higher prices are mostly in the two biggest property markets in Australia – Sydney and Melbourne, although increases have also been reported in Canberra, the capital city. Lawless explains the rebuilding in the housing market to lower cash rate and lower mortgage rates.

Most of the increase in home prices were for detached houses because of fears of a glut in flats in many Australian cities. But the gap between detached homes and apartment units is less pronounced in Sydney where the flat oversupply worries are more muted.

However, while the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) would hold on Tuesday, Nov 1, its monetary policy meeting, the central bank is expected to leave the rates untouched even if core inflation is weakening a touch more in the third quarter, Sydney Morning Herald notes.

A poll by Bloomberg of 27 economist supported the no RBA rate change on Melbourne Cup day, with 21 sharing that outlook.