National house prices have risen further in the June quarter, with a recovery at the higher end of the market matching strength at the bottom end.

House prices gained 3.3 per cent in the June quarter, the strongest quarterly growth since the global financial crisis began withering asset values, Australian Property Monitors said overnight.

''While low interest rates, flat prices and first-home owner grants supported the affordable end of the market through the end of 2008 and early 2009, it's been the upper end of the market that's driven the strong growth in the major capitals in the June quarter,'' said Australian Property Monitors economist Matthew Bell, in a press release.

The weighted average median house price in the most expensive capital city suburbs was $796,559 in the June quarter, up from $764,936 in the March quarter, APM said.

In the less affluent suburbs the weighted average median house price rose to $405,872 up from $393,541 over the same period.
 
"For Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, median prices in the top 50 per cent of suburbs grew by nearly double the rate of those of the bottom 50 per cent in the June quarter,'' Mr Bell said.

Quarterly prices in Sydney gained 3.7 per cent, while in Melbourne they grew 5.8 per cent.

''Not surprisingly this has coincided with the stockmarket rebounding by nearly 30 per cent from its March lows and the economic outlook improving as better-than-expected data flowed in."

RBA warning

The data revealing a recovery in home prices comes the same week Reserve Bank governor Glenn Stevens warned of a housing price bubble risk in Australia.

Mr Stevens said that if more homes aren't built while interest rates remain at the near-50 year low of 3 per cent and the first-home buyer's grant remains in place, it would ''pose elevated risks of problems of over-leverage and asset price deflation down the track.''

Nonetheless, expected falls in home prices may prove short-lived if previous pull-backs are any guide, said Mr Bell.

"As the first-home owner boost begins phasing out in September, demand is expected to remain strong as potential buyers point to low interest rates and previous periods of flat or falling prices as important drivers in their decision to purchase a property within the next 12 months."

"Property investors who have been waiting for the removal of the Boost and the bottom of the interest rate cycle are expected to begin re-entering the market in greater numbers in the second half of 2009 and early 2010."

Mr Bell said rising unemployment remains the biggest risk for home prices. The jobless rate, currently at 5.8 per cent, is projected to hit about 8 per cent by the end of next year as slumping demand forces companies to cut staff.