SYDNEY, April 20 (Xinhua) -- The median house price in Melbourne has hit a new record high of 632,000 U.S. dollars.
The growth in median price of 24,000 dollars in the March quarter marked four and a half consecutive years of house prices growing every quarter.
The State of the Market report, published by real estate industry publication Domain on Thursday, found that the middle house price in Melbourne was 82,000 dollars more than at the same time in 2016.
Melbourne's median price has more than doubled in a decade, the report said, with the median in the first quarter of 2007 sitting at 290,000 dollars.
Ben Peters, a physiotherapist who has been working full-time for a decade to buy a house, said he was disheartened by the property market.
"Seeing the prices go up caused me to doubt all the hard work I had put into getting into the market," Peters told Fairfax Media on Thursday.
"I questioned what was the point of working hard; I felt like giving up and just enjoying the moment, it really puts you in a pessimistic mindset.
"Even after 10 years of struggle and pain, it seems like it's still a bit out of reach."
The median price for a unit in Melbourne also skyrocketed in the first quarter of 2017, up 41,000 dollars to 371,000 dollars.
A population boom in the city has been identified as a key driver in soaring prices, with Melbourne projected to comfortably be Australia's largest city by 2050.
Shane Oliver, chief economist with financial services company AMP, said the higher prices were forcing people to borrow more money from banks, raising concerns about the level of household debt.
"They're certainly not welcome numbers," Oliver said.
"The only people who this is good news for are those who are looking to sell... and move out of Melbourne into regional areas or to cities and states which haven't seen the gains in recent times."
