In the shares vs. property contest last month, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) rose by 2.57% while the CoreLogic Australian home value index appreciated 0.6%.
The index measures the entire housing market, including houses, townhouses, and units.
Digging deeper into the data from CoreLogic, we see that the median Australian house price and apartment price both increased by 0.6% in March.
CoreLogic research director Tim Lawless said this was the 14th consecutive month of growth, however, price gains varied across individual markets.
At one end of the scale we have Perth's housing market where values were up 1.9% over the month, followed by Adelaide and Brisbane with 1.4% and 1.1% growth.
The remaining capitals are showing much lower rates of change, although Melbourne is the only capital city to record a negative quarterly movement, down -0.2% over the first three months of the year.
Among the regional markets, regional Western Australia led the way with an extraordinarily strong 2.1% growth in home values in March. Regional South Australia and regional Queensland followed with 1.1%.
Lawless added:
The diversity in housing value outcomes can be explained by significant differences in factors like housing affordability, demand-side pressures from population growth and shortcomings in housing supply.
Focusing on the extreme growth conditions in Perth, despite such a rapid pace of capital gains, housing values remain relatively affordable compared with the larger capital cities.
Housing remains in short supply and purchasing demand is still high due to interstate and overseas migration rates that are well above average.
Meantime, the ASX 200 rose over the month due to optimism over possible interest rate cuts soon.
Last Thursday, the ASX 200 hit a new record high with an intraday peak of 7,901.2 points. The benchmark is currently trading at 7,906.7 points, up 0.12% on Tuesday.
Image source: Getty Images
Shares vs. property price growth in March
Here is how shares vs. property performed in terms of price growth in the month of March.
| Property market | Median house price | Price growth in March | 12-month price growth |
| Sydney | $1,414,229 | 0.3% | 10.7% |
| Melbourne | $935,049 | -0.1% | 3.3% |
| Brisbane | $909,988 | 1% | 15.9% |
| Adelaide | $785,971 | 1.3% | 13.2% |
| Perth | $735,276 | 1.9% | 20% |
| Hobart | $692,951 | 0.3% | 0.9% |
| Darwin | $573,498 | -0.2% | 0.4% |
| Canberra | $964,136 | 0.5% | 2.5% |
| Regional New South Wales | $757,597 | 0.3% | 4.1% |
| Regional Victoria | $600,870 | -0.2% | -0.7% |
| Regional Queensland | $626,507 | 1.1% | 10.6% |
| Regional South Australia | $417,847 | 1.1% | 9.8% |
| Regional Western Australia | $508,513 | 2.1% | 12.3% |
| Regional Tasmania | $532,203 | -0.2% | 0.2% |
| Regional Northern Territory | $443,829 | -0.2% | -6.2% |
Source: CoreLogic
Top 5 risers of the ASX 200 in March
The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) appreciated by 2.57% in March.
According to CommSec data, these ASX 200 shares below outperformed the benchmark index by a mile.
Here were the top risers of the month.
| ASX 200 share | Share price growth in March |
| Life360 Inc (ASX: 360) | 63.42% |
| West African Resources Ltd (ASX: WAF) | 39.53% |
| Ramelius Resources Ltd (ASX: RMS) | 32.86% |
| Alumina Ltd (ASX: AWC) | 32.71% |
| Virgin Money UK CDI (ASX: VUK) | 32.58% |
Source: CommSec
What drove the Life360 share price higher?
Life360 released its FY23 results last month, revealing adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) of US$20.6 million.
Investors were impressed given the company's guidance had been far lower at US$12 million to US$16 million. The Life360 share price gained 24% shortly after the market open on the day of the news.
The technology company is now guiding an adjusted EBITDA of between US$30 million and US$35 million for FY24.
Life360 also announced the launch of a new advertising revenue stream, with advertising partners gaining access to its free user base and more than 20 million daily active users (DAU).
Co-founder and CEO, Chris Hulls said:
We have consistently spoken of the potential that our investment in the core user experience, and the scaling of our MAU [monthly active users] base, would provide for the future.
We are encouraged by the success of early testing and see the opportunity to deliver an attractive platform to advertisers, while continuing to provide a great user experience.
