Australian housing market continued its strong growth in last December, making 2013 the biggest calendar year rise in four years, according the latest figures from RP Data. The figures showed that the average capital city home values across the country increased 9.8 percent in 2013, the biggest rise since 2009 when home values soared 13.7 percent. The most prominent city for capital gains is Sydney, which saw a 14.5 percent rise over the year and a 4.1 percent rise over the past three months. The gains have also left the median home price of Sydney at 655, 250 Australian dollars (about 583,000 U.S. dollars), the dearest across the whole nation. Meanwhile, the home prices of Melbourne were up 2.2 percent in last December, pushing its annual gains to 8.5 percent and the median price to 563,000 dollars. Other major cities like Perth and Brisbane also have strong annual returns for property owners, with 9.9 percent and 5.1 percent rise respectively. RP Data is the top provider of property information, analytics and risk management services in Australia and New Zealand.