Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and other cities on the eastern seaboard are shrugging off the decline in the property market and starting to recover as dropping prices and rising confidence boosts supply and sales.

But other cities, such as Sydney, Perth and Darwin, are still languishing at the bottom of the market while their local economies are still suffering, despite some pockets of change.

“Australia is a mosaic of property markets and the only way to truly understand them is at a granular, coal face level,” said Shaun Thomas, director of residential property for national property valuer Herron Todd White (HTW).

Recovery driving forces include the federal election eliminating concerns of additional property taxes, the cash rate falling from 1.5% to 0.75%, overseas buyers, simpler lending conditions–for the right lenders–and higher clearance rates improving confidence.

Record-high household debt, stagnant wages, and local economic issues, particularly in mining-dependent cities such as Perth and Darwin, and weak industry practises, including under-quoting, hold back demand in those markets.

Lenders continue to target attractive borrowers who have regular income and big deposits with new offers ranging from higher discounts and lower fees to cash incentives.