RP Data out today shows house prices fell in April Picture: Travis Mccue Source: Leader SYDNEY'S housing recovery has taken its first stumble for the year, recording a decline in dwelling values over April. According to the RP Data-Rismark April Hedonic Home Value Index, the harbour city recorded a 0.4 per cent slip in values, to reach a median dwelling price of $565,000. The rest of the country followed suit, with a 0.5 per cent drop across the aggregate of the eight capitals. Analysts have chalked the result up to a slight seasonal adjustment after a strong opening quarter for the year. "We weren't expecting that the high rate of growth evidenced over the first three months of the year would be sustained into April," said RP Data's director of research Tim lawless. Adelaide and Darwin were the only capital cities to record positive movements during April, with growth of 2.8 and 0.2 per cent respectively. The negative month has not affected the prospects of a housing recovery by the end of 2013, with capital city values up 4.2 per cent from a recent low point at the end of May 2012. "The quantum of the April pullback is seasonably typical of a market pause," said Rismark CEO Ben Skilbeck. If one were to take seasonal movements into consideration the market is not currently showing any downward trend. The 12 month figures look good, with houses up 2.7 per cent at a combined capital city level. Darwin leads the way with a 5.9 per cent increase and Sydney is next best, with 3.7. "Overall, the housing market is in much better shape than it was a year ago where values were still falling and market sentiment was very low," said Mr Lawless. Despite the weak April results, we are in a market where auction clearance rates are consistently higher than 60 per cent nationally and around the 70 per cent mark in Melbourne and Sydney. Vendors aren't discounting their asking prices as much as they were a year ago, providing further evidence that buyers and sellers are starting to find some even ground.