Median house prices slid, properties were taking longer to sell, and investors were choosing to snap up properties from other areas, according to the latest quarterly report by the Real Estate Institute of Tasmania (REIT).
Hobart has been posting positive results for five years, but new results suggest that heydays are over. The insight was supported by new data from CoreLogic, which show Hobart's house prices slipped by nearly 1% in April.
Hobart has a new median house price of $452,000, but properties in the city are still more expensive compared to Perth and Adelaide, said ABC News in a report.
While Tasmania’s capital recorded a 3.8% growth year-over-year, CoreLogic agreed that the market is now weakening.
"If the market is a clock, and 12 pm is when it's at the peak, we've probably moved to about 12:30 pm. I don't think the drop in the market will be significant compared to what has happened on some of the mainland centres, simply because there is a shortage of properties for sale,” REIT President Tony Collidge said in a statement.
REIT also revealed that house sale numbers in the Greater Hobart area have dropped by 16% in a year. The median house price, meanwhile, decreased by 1.7%.
The data also revealed that it was taking longer to sell properties in the south and north of the state.
"In March 2018, it was just taking a bit over two to two-and-a-half weeks for a property to sell, and it's now pushing out to the four-week mark," Collidge said.
The trend was driven by many factors, such as investors pulling away from the Tasmanian market, according to Collidge.
After four years of investors accounting for nearly 22% of sales, the figure declined to 16% last quarter.
"We have noticed a shift in investment activity in the state … prices have dropped quite significantly in other parts of Australia so investors are looking at options where they can get into those markets," Collidge said. “While the market is down in those regions they're looking to capitalise there, rather than buying at the top of the market as is happening here."