Australian regional markets soften as the shine wears off popular lifestyle locales
The hottest market on the coast in recent years has also been the hardest hit
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Australia’s pandemic-induced love affair with regional real estate has well and truly cooled, data from CoreLogic reveals.
Head of research at CoreLogic, Eliza Owen, said rate increases and softer markets had impacted the country’s most popular regional areas, with the Richmond-Tweed area in far north NSW the worst affected.
“It is unsurprising the Richmond-Tweed region recorded the strongest decline in house values and a sharp increase in other important metrics,” Ms Owen said. “This was the region where values skyrocketed, with houses increasing more than 50 percent during COVID, taking the median house value to more than $1.1 million.
“Since then much has changed with borders reopening, outbound travel returning, workers returning to the office not to mention the overlay of nine rate rises. It’s been a swift and significant shift.”
The Regional Market Update, which reports on house values in Australia’s 25 largest non-capital city regions, showed house market values in the area fell -18.6 percent over the 12 months to January, with houses sitting on the market for 71 days. Vendor discounting in Richmond-Tweed was also the highest of the regions at -8.3 percent. However, it is worth noting that house values in the region are still 23.7 percent above their pre COVID levels.
The Richmond-Tweed was also the worst performer for unit values, with lowest yearly growth down -10.0 percent and vendor discounts at -5.6 percent for the three months to January.
The Richmond-Tweed area was among four regions in Australia to record more than a 30 percent fall in sales with over the 12 months to November. The others were the Southern Highlands and Shoalhaven, NSW (-35.9 percent), Mid North Coast, NSW (-30.7 percent) and Latrobe-Gippsland, Vic (-30.3%).
The news was better for that other popular COVID destination, Queensland, particularly in the far north where unit growth continued to be strong. Cairns recorded the highest yearly growth at 17.3 percent while Mackay-Isaac-Whitsunday units had the shortest days on market, 32 days over the three months to January. The next fastest selling location for units was the historic Victorian centre of Ballarat, with 35 days on market.
In the WA town of Bunbury, houses took just 24 days to sell, the fastest regional results in the country, followed by Toowoomba on 28 days.
While some regional areas had experienced significant falls, Ms Owen said regional market performance overall continued to be more resilient than capital city dwelling markets.
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2 min
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This stylish family home combines a classic palette and finishes with a flexible floorplan
Just 55 minutes from Sydney, make this your creative getaway located in the majestic Hawkesbury region.
