Hobart was the best-performing capital city in the three months to August, according to a leading supplier of commercial and residential property information services.

The latest RP Data figures show Hobart home values rose 1.4 per cent, seasonally adjusted to a median price of $325,000.

Canberra values increased 1.2 per cent to $480,000. Sydney prices lifted by 0.2 per cent, seasonally adjusted to a median price of $505,000. In Melbourne, home values edged down 1.5 per cent to a median price of $470,000 over the same three-month period.

Brisbane home prices tumbled 2.3 per cent, seasonally adjusted, to $434,000, in the three months to August. Perth slumped 4.8 per cent over the same period to the median price of $460,000.

Adelaide values eased 0.2 per cent on a seasonally-adjusted basis, to $387,500, while Darwin slid 1.4 per cent to $485,000.

The median national home prices declined 0.2 per cent in August, seasonally adjusted, following a 0.4 per cent increase in July. The national city median dwelling price slumped to $457,000 in August from $465,000 in July.

August's fall in home values comes as the sustainability of the local housing market gets international scrutiny.

Commonwealth Bank chief Ralph Norris has recently gone on an international roadshow to reassure investors that the Australian housing market - where official capital city house prices climbed by 38 per cent since June 2006 - is not in a bubble.

Central bank economists have likewise denied claims that Australia's housing market is in a bubble, although investors are concerned over prices posting a 19 per cent rise this year and more than 160 per cent increase in the past decade.

Credit ratings agency Fitch said yesterday it would undertake a fresh stress test of the Australian mortgage market after repeated queries.