Australia's retail turnover rises 0.8%, house prices up 1.9% in Q3

Australia's retail turnover rose 0. 8 percent in September to 22.15 billion AU dollars (21 billion U.S. dollars), after a rise of 0.5 percent in the previous month, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) reported Monday. The September figure was higher than economists'expectations of a 0.4 percent rise for the month. Turnover rose in department stores, clothing and footwear and personal accessory retailing and food retailing, while sales in household goods fell. The ABS also released house prices data Monday, showing the eight capital city weighted average increased 1.9 percent in the September quarter, for a total rise of 7.6 percent over the year to September. The established house price index for Sydney rose 3.6 percent, the largest capital city rise in the September 2013 quarter, the ABS data showed. Other increases were in Melbourne (up 1.9 percent), Brisbane ( up 1.2 percent), Perth (up 0.2 percent), Hobart (up 1.4 percent) and Darwin (up 0.4 percent), while Canberra and Adelaide fell 1.2 percent and 0.6 percent, respectively. "This is the first time since 2010 that the capital city average has shown four consecutive quarters of growth year on year, " ABS analyst Robin Ashburn said in a statement. "Sydney's rises were broad based in the September quarter, with most areas going up, but prices were mixed in Melbourne, with some areas showing rises and others falls."