“Slow and steady wins the race” is a phrase that may well be applied to Adelaide’s property market.

Amid a climate of breathtaking auction prices in Sydney and Perth’s knee-jerk property drop in response to Western Australia’s downturn in resource fortunes, the Adelaide market has continued its slow and steady climb.

Weathering a barrage of economic and employment hurdles, Adelaide properties values climbed 0.5 per cent for the June quarter, a movement welcomed by Real Estate Institute of South Australia chief executive officer Greg Troughton.

“Even with the backdrop of unemployment (rate of 7.9 per cent for September), our property is still red-hot and steady in terms of value,” Troughton told InDaily.

“For all the reasons in the world they really could have gone the other way.

“We’ve held on with a solid 0.5 per cent and we’re right in the middle of the pack.”

In the June quarter data released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics on Tuesday, Adelaide held onto a median price of $425,000 for an established home and $256,500 for the state average.

Troughton said Adelaide remained a steady and solid market for all tiers of investment and attractive to interstate investors.

“We don’t have these peaks and troughs that they have in other states,” he said.

“When you look at the figures coming out of Sydney, they are really scary numbers.

“We certainly don’t want to be having the, let’s call it 20 per cent growth (in home prices) that Sydney has.

“If you own your own home that’s very good – if you don’t, it’s a nightmare.”

Troughton predicted that, with a recent turn in the state’s investment approach and the Federal Government’s pledge to build the country’s new fleet of frigates in the city, the best was yet to come for Adelaide property prices.

“The announcement of the subs might be the shot in the arm we need,” he said.

“But we have been steady for a long time now, we are due for a bump (up).”

However, he warned that any steady or increasing signs of growth could be undone if industry and government did not support a positive attitude about the state’s fortunes and potential.

“There needs to be a change in attitude and messaging from industry and government,” Troughton said.

“There is such negative sentiment.

“We’d like to see more improvement over time.”

ABS figures showed Adelaide property prices rose 2.7 per cent for the year.

Throughout the country, capital city home prices rose 4.7 per cent in the June quarter, well above market expectations of a 2.4 per cent gain.

Over the year to June, the residential property price index was up 9.8 per cent.

Sydney’s annual price growth was twice as fast as second-placed Melbourne and has remained in double-digit growth since the September quarter of 2013.

Perth and Darwin recorded the only falls for capital cities in the June quarter and in the year to June.

Nationally, the ABS recorded 9,528,000 residential dwellings, an increase of 38,400, with a total value of $5,761,607 million, rising $271,939.1m over the quarter.

The mean price of a residential house increased $26,200 to $604,700.

CAPITAL CITY HOME PRICES

Sydney – up 8.9 per cent in June quarter, up 18.9 per cent in the year

Melbourne – up 4.2 per cent and 7.8 per cent

Brisbane – up 0.9 per cent and 2.9 per cent

Canberra – up 0.8 per cent and 2.8 per cent

Adelaide – up 0.5 per cent and 2.7 per cent

Hobart – steady and up 1.5 per cent

Darwin – down 0.8 per cent and down 1.8 per cent

Perth – down 0.9 per cent and down 1.2 per cent