House prices in the state capital cities of Australia increased by 2.8% in the first quarter of 2013, taking the cumulative capital gain to 4.7% since the market bottomed out in May last year.

The latest figures from RP Data also show that prices increased by 1.3% in March with every capital city recording a rise, apart from Adelaide where the market remained flat.

Perth recorded the fastest growth in March with prices surging 3.4%. Hobart and Darwin also recorded a large lift in values, up 2.5% and 2.4% respectively over the month.

Every capital city apart from Adelaide, which saw prices fall 0.5%, has seen home values rise over the past quarter. Over the past 12 months the only capital city not to experience a rise in values was Hobart which was down 1.2%.

RP Data research director Tim Lawless said that since the capital city housing market bottomed out at the end of May last year values have risen by 4.7% after falling by 7.4% from their market peak back in late 2010.