The latest Bendigo Bank/REIA Real Estate Market Facts Report indicates that a number of regional areas saw house prices soar 15% or more in the last quarter.
Bendigo and Adelaide Bank’s executive for retail Dennis Bice said housing growth has been strong in parts of Australia outside of capital cities.
“Cities such as Newcastle and Wollongong in NSW are being re-discovered, and with good reason, contributing to higher demand and strong price growth. Compared to the September quarter of 2012, apartments in these centres recorded 16.5% and 13.1% respectively.
“It’s a similar story in Geelong which recorded house price increases of more than 15% compared with last year. In Bendigo, apartments recorded 11.3% growth for the quarter and in Cairns, apartments recorded a 10% increase," Bice said.
In other regional areas, such as South Australia’s Riverland, house prices went up 15%. In Mandurah, WA, apartment values grew 13%.
The weighted average median capital city house price in Australia for the September Quarter is now $562,503 after growing 3% over the September quarter. Apartments now average $460,315 – an increase of 2.2% over the same period.
Melbourne was the leader for capital city house price growth. Values rose 7.3% over the quarter and are up 15% on September quarter figures last year. Sydney recorded a 4.2% increase for the quarter and 11.7% for the year.
