SYDNEY, March 1 (Reuters) - Australian home prices posted solid growth for a second month in February, though there were wide differences across cities with Melbourne running hot while Perth was again hit by weakness in the mining sector.
Tuesday's figures from property consultant CoreLogic RP Data showed its index of home prices for the combined capital cities rose 0.5 percent in February, compared to January when prices increased by 0.9 percent.
Prices in Sydney increased by 0.5 percent for a second month, while Melbourne edged up by 0.3 percent after a very strong January. Melbourne stayed ahead with annual growth of 11.1 percent, while Sydney slowed a little to 9.5 percent.
Annual growth at the national level steadied at 7.6 percent, well below the cycle peak of 11.5 percent struck last year.
The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) has been pleased with the moderate cooling having signalled alarm last year when sustained growth in borrowing to let risked blowing a bubble in prices.
Those concerns led regulators to tighten lending standards for property investment with the aim of keeping annual growth in loans at 10 percent or less.
The major Australian banks also announced increases in mortgage rates both for investors and home owners, blaming higher regulatory costs.
The central bank holds its monthly policy on Tuesday and is widely expected to keep interest rates at 2 percent, where they have been since last May.
Annual price growth varied widely across cities, including a 3.1 percent drop in Perth and a 2.9 percent fall in Darwin. Prices outside of the major cities grew 2.2 percent in the year to February.