Apartment prices across Australia are soaring as first-home buyers who can no longer afford houses take advantage of the Federal Government’s 5 per cent deposit scheme. In south-east Queensland, average Gold Coast apartment values rose by 12.8 per cent to $920,000, while on the Sunshine Coast, they went up by 10.7 per cent to $910,000. Darwin, Australia’s cheapest market, saw its apartment prices climb by 12.6 per cent to $430,000. Even stronger apartment price growth is expected this year when stricter lending rules come into effect. Capital city house prices climbed 12.8 per cent over the year to $1.13 million as regional prices edged up by 12.4 per cent to $760,000.