A lack of growth is sales volumes in the Gold Coast and Brisbane has failed to stop prices surging back toward pre-crisis highs, according to the latest research.

Analyst Bill Morris told the AFR that his findings – which come from an analysis of figures from the Queensland Department of Natural Resources and Water – showed average Brisbane house prices reached $560, 000 in the six months to December 2009 – up $49,000 on six months earlier.

At the Gold Coast it was a similar story, with a surge of 7.6% to an average of $575,000.

Mr Morris believes the data shows a bottom has been reached, but cautioned that low volumes indicated tighter lending practices were still causing a problem for buyers.