SYDNEY (Reuters) -Australia’s house prices rose for the fourth straight month in May as expectations of more interest rate cuts boosted buyer sentiment, with every state capital posting a rise in prices.

Figures from Cotality, formerly CoreLogic, showed national prices rose 0.5% in May from April, compared with a 0.3% gain the previous month. Annual growth in national prices was 3.3%.

“The continued momentum we’re seeing across almost all markets is no doubt being fuelled by rate cuts – both those that have already happened, but also potential cuts in the coming months,” Cotality Research Director Tim Lawless said.

Those cuts could boost sentiment in June and through the rest of the year with home prices expected to post “a modest rise” this year, though at slower pace recorded in 2024, Lawless said in a statement.

The Reserve Bank of Australia cut interest rates to a two-year low last month as cooling inflation at home offered scope to counter rising global trade risks, and left the door open to further easing in the months ahead.

Strong immigration and tight supply has helped Australia’s property market to end a year-long slide much earlier than the expectations of many experts.

(Reporting by Renju Jose in Sydney; Editing by Lincoln Feast.)