Market analyst and buyer’s agency Propertyology found something to contradict the negative perceptions on Australia’s property market, as it reported double-digit price growth for one in every eight locations across the country over the past year.
According to the agency’s research, the median house price rose by 10% or higher in just over 12% of Australia over the year ending April 2018.
“The property markets of 550 city councils spread across our eight states and territories is akin to the stock exchange for Australia’s property markets. 67 out of 550 had double-digit growth,” said Propertyology Head of Research Simon Pressley.
The property markets in 16 out of Greater-Melbourne’s 31 city councils generated double-digit price growth. These were mostly located in the outer parts of Melbourne, where homes are more affordable. Hume (25%), Whittlesea (23%), Cardinia (21%), Nillumbik and Casey (both 19%) were the biggest gainers.
Notably, 45 of the markets that posted double-digit price growth are outside of Australia’s 8 capital cities.
24 of the 27 locations in New South Wales (NSW) where the median house price climbed by more than 10% over the last year are within the regions.
Additionally, the median house price in Uralla at NSW surged by 24.1% last year. For reference, a typical house in the New England region still costs $367,000.
“We’ve been saying for quite some time that the outlook for many parts of regional Australia is increasingly better than most capital city markets,” said Pressley.
He also highlighted the robust employment growth in some of Australia’s regions, especially in tourism, health, agriculture and specialised manufacturing. A strong rebound was also recorded in the mining sector.
Victoria saw the largest amount of double-digit price growth, with 28 locations qualifying, 12 of which were regional.
On the other hand, Tasmania had seven locations see similar growth; four of these are within Greater-Hobart, which is Australia’s hottest property market at present.
South Australia was also well represented overall with 75% of its locations also seeing growth.
The median house price in Karratha at Western Australia grew by 13.5%, and while Queensland didn’t have any locations on the list of double-digit growth, Pressley pointing out that such locations don’t produce double-digit growth very often.
“The Asian Century is real, it’s having a positive impact in key industries and this is flowing through to certain property markets, including regional Australia,” Pressley said. “The opportunities are significant, and we are only nineteen years in to it.”
“Local confidence and job growth increases demand for housing. Our buyer’s agents have already seen the positivity within regional communities flow through to property prices.
“Regional Australia has housing affordability in spades. The median house price is still under $350,000 in strong growth locations such as Berri, Cooma-Monaro, Coffs Harbour, Forbes, Lithgow, Launceston, and Muswellbrook,” he said.
Interestingly, the research also revealed that 45 of the 67 city councils with double-digit price growth still have a median home price less than $600,000.
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