Australian home prices have rebounded this year, almost erasing falls recorded for all of 2008 in just four months, an industry report says.

Home prices in capital cities rose 2.8 per cent in the four months to April, according to real estate research firm RP Data, "virtually wiping out" 2008's 3 per cent fall.

Homes in every capital, except Perth, rose in value. Median home prices in the WA capital fell by 0.8 per cent to $466,385 after "spectacular" growth during the commodities boom.

"Our analysis demonstrates that home values are rising in around 80 per cent of all suburbs with only the top 20 per cent of suburbs ranked by price suffering material falls," said Christopher Joye, managing director of Rismark International, which releases the report jointly with RP Data.

Darwin homes experienced the highest median-price growth, rising 5.3 per cent to $443,179 in the first four months of the year, while Melbourne median values grew 4.5 per cent to $436,548. Sydney home values climbed 3.9 per cent to $522,797.

RP Data national research director Tim Lawless said the figures cast doubt on the notion that a 'bubble,' driven by low interest rates and the boost to the first time home owners' grant by the government, would develop in the first-home buyers' market.

"Home values in Australia's mortgage belts, which are the prime first-home buyer markets, were flat or falling between 2004-07 while the inner city and affluent markets enjoyed consistent growth,'' Mr Lawless said.

"In 2008-09 we have seen a reversal of these fortunes.''

Although first-time buyers helped support the market, "people forget that 70-75 per cent of home buyers aren't first timers''.

No significant falls

Numbers collated by other real estate pricing firms are consistent with the figures released by RP Data today.

Property information firm Australian Property Monitors shows home prices rising 1 per cent in the March quarter but falling 3.7 per cent in the year to March.

APM head of research Yvonne Chan acknowledges that the First Home Owners' grant boost, enacted in October, has supported property prices in recent months, while consumer confidence and lending slumped.

"We are seeing that the figures have been very consistent for the last two quarters with the stimulus,'' said Ms Chan. "It has helped to recover prices from a year ago.''

In the current real estate market, activity has fallen but home values have shown strength, she said.

Looking ahead, Ms Chan said even if home prices go down, APM does not foresee significant falls such as those in the US, UK, Spain and Ireland, where the housing bubbles popped, triggering double digit falls in home values.

APM is owned by Fairfax, publisher of BusinessDay.

The national price movements recorded by both RP Data and Australian Property Monitors paint a healthier picture of the overall market than the official Australian Bureau of Statistics data.

The ABS showed a 2.2 per cent drop in the weighted average for capital city house prices in the March quarter, along with a 6.7 per cent drop for the year to March.