August's Rismark Home Value Index of the real estate research firm RP Data shows a slight drop in the value of houses in Australia's capital cities.

The RP Data report reveals a 0.2 percent seasonally adjusted decline in Australian capital city home values in August. Other urban and rural areas in the country were reported to be flat in growth, both in seasonally adjusted and raw terms.

Perth was seen to have the largest drop with house prices dipping 4.8 percent in August. The slump in prices began with a one percent slide in June. Prices rebounded by 0.4 percent rise in July, though.

According to Rismark International managing director Christopher Joye, “The weakness since the end of the first quarter has been seen across all cities. Interestingly, Sydney and Canberra have been the best performing conurbations since the market’s May apogee.”

The report, however, shows an eight percent increase in capital city home values over the year until August. The median dwelling price in all capital cities stands at $457,000.

In contrast, rental yields across the capital cities were reported to be improving given the low vacancy rates and the freezing of capital gains. The gross yield on capital city units was estimated at 4.9 percent. The estimate for detached houses is 4.0 percent.