Sydney remains Australia’s most valuable property market, and not just in terms of high prices

Sydney’s lack of affordability has been catching up with it, as values have been dropping for several months now. However, it is by no means losing shine in the eyes of buyers.

“While Sydney is the most expensive city in Australia, it is also clearly the most valuable and will continue to experience a chronic shortage of homes,” explains Metropole Property Strategists CEO Michael Yardney.

“Strong economic growth and jobs creation is leading to population growth, and ongoing demand for property in Sydney is well ahead of supply. The rental market is tightening.”

Despite the restrictions placed by banks on overseas investors, which struck a blow to the Sydney buyer market, the capital city retains international appeal, and buyers are simply being choosier now about the properties they invest in, given the heightened risk.

“Sydney is currently offering investors an opportunity to buy established apartments in the Eastern Suburbs, Lower North Shore and Inner West, in a buyer’s market with little further downside and the prospect of the market moving forward again in 2019,” Yardney says.

“While the top end of the market is suffering from a lack of buyers for prestige homes, and the lower-end markets, like Sydney’s South West or the Central Coast, are being held back by affordability issues, some of the inner- and middle-ring suburbs are strongly outperforming the averages.”

Overlooked suburbs

Markets in overlooked locations are beginning to come into the spotlight.

“Gloucester, Cooma-Monaro, Snowy River and Muswellbrook form part of the list of Australia’s top 20 (out of 550) property markets over the last 12 months [to July 2018],” reports Propertyology managing director Simon Pressley.

“They are shining examples of low-profile locations that all have very affordable housing and are benefiting from job creation in the agriculture, mining and tourism sectors.”

Parts of NSW are even benefiting from the rising Canberra market, with the Queanbeyan region on the ACT border enjoying a boom.

“Investors can capitalise on Canberra’s strong economy, yet dodge the high land tax applicable to ACT owners,” explains Empower Wealth director of research Jeremy Sheppard.

“Regional markets of NSW showing more promise include Ballina and Orange.”

SUBURB TO WATCH

TELOPEA: Value growth slows in premium suburb

Named for the plant that eventually became the floral emblem of NSW, Telopea has seen growth falter over the 2017–18 period.

Historically a fairly strong performer, the suburb has seen house and unit values increase by only 0.2% and 0.7%, respectively.

However, the slowdown in growth could help make Telopea more accessible to other buyers. The suburb is bordered in the west by the bushland that forms Vineyard Creek Reserve. The waterfalls in this reserve are a sight to behold. Not that the commercial scene doesn’t also thrive – Waratah Shopping Centre is home to a supermarket and retail shops. The local railway station is located on the Carlington line on the Sydney Trains network.

Nature: Telopea is home to beautiful waterfalls and a bushland reserve

Amenities: A central shopping centre and a railway station serve residents in Telopea