Locals priced out as regional homes double city price growth
Long-time locals risk being priced out of their home towns as Australia’s regional housing markets record value growth double that of capital cities.
Australia’s regional market has seen home prices grow 13 per cent over the last 12 months, compared to 6.4 per cent in the capital cities.
“This can partly be explained by the new popularity of remote and flexible working arrangements, but also increased demand for lifestyle oriented properties and holiday homes,” CoreLogic research director Tim Lawless said.
“No doubt the more affordable housing options across many of Australia’s regional markets is another incentive; in April there was a $247,400 difference between the median value of capital city dwellings and regional dwellings.”
However that’s not the case everywhere.
The median house value across the northern NSW Byron council area has now hit $1.4 million, making it more expensive than houses in the Greater Sydney area, where there’s a median price of $1.147 million.
“While surging values are probably good news for homeowners in these regions, for those that don’t own a home, affordability is being stretched,” Lawless said.
“Particularly for long-time locals whose incomes are unlikely to be rising at anywhere near the pace of house price appreciation, they may be forced to seek out housing options further afield.”
It’s unlikely regional areas will see value growth slow, he added.
“Regional housing markets remain well placed to record higher than average levels of demand, especially those markets that are located close enough to capital cities to provide a commuting option, and those lifestyle markets that are popular with sea and tree changers.”
Best performing regional markets: Named
Richmond - Tweed in NSW saw yearly growth of 21.9 per cent for standalone houses, making it the fastest growing regional area.
It also recorded the highest yearly growth in unit values, up 15.5 per cent.
In Western Australia, Bunbury saw sales volumes increase 51.4 per cent for houses, while Central Queensland saw unit sales increase 76 per cent.
And in Victoria, Ballarat is seeing houses sell after 24 days on the market on average, making it the fastest selling regional market.
North East Tasmania and Launceston was the fastest selling market for units, with apartments also being snapped up after 24 days on average.
