Where property prices are rebounding around the country
Interest rate rises and cost of living pressures resulted in mixed results on home values around Australia
Interest rate rises and cost of living pressures resulted in mixed results on home values around Australia
Australian home prices rebounded strongly in 2023, new figures released today have shown.
The Home Value Index from property data provider CoreLogic revealed prices surged by 8.1 percent last year after falling -4.9 percent in 2022. However, recorded growth is nothing like the rises in 2021, which saw home prices swell by 24.5 percent.
CoreLogic research director Tim Lawless said while the greatest increases were seen at the start of 2023, consistent interest rate rises announced by the RBA put a dampener on growth as the year progressed, with just a 0.4 percent increase in December.
“This was the smallest gain in our national monthly HVI since values started rising in February,” Mr Lawless said. “After monthly growth in home values peaked in May at 1.3 percent, a rate hike in June and another in November, along with persistent cost of living pressures, worsening affordability challenges, rising advertised stock levels and low consumer sentiment, have progressively taken some heat out of the market through the second half of the year.”
While regional areas saw record price rises during COVID, it is now the Australian capitals leading increases in home values, Mr Lawless said.
“Stronger conditions across capital city markets is a reversal of the early COVID trend which saw regional markets experience higher demand amid strong internal migration,” he said. “Regional migration trends have mostly normalised through 2023, and the significant capital gains recorded through 2020 to 2022 has meant many regional markets have become less affordable.”
However, growth across capital cities is uneven, with Perth recording the highest annual increases at 15.2 percent, followed by Brisbane on 13.1 percent and Sydney on 11.1 percent. The results were followed by Adelaide (8.8 percent), Melbourne (3.5 percent) and Canberra (0.5 percent). Darwin and Hobart values declined over the past 12 months, down -0.1 percent and -0.8 percent respectively.
In Perth, the top performing suburb was Armadale, up 25.2 percent, followed by Gosnells, 22.6 percent.
In Brisbane, home values in the suburb of Nathan are up 22 percent on last year, followed by Mt Gravatt, up 21.1 percent.
For the Sydney market, Blacktown lead the way, with a 15.8 percent increase in home values, followed by the inner west suburbs of Marrickville – Sydenham – Petersham, which increased by 15.3 percent.
Rank |
SA3 Name |
SA4 Name |
Median Value |
Annual change |
Greater Sydney |
||||
1 |
Blacktown |
Sydney -Blacktown |
$969,287 |
15.8% |
2 |
Marrickville -Sydenham -Petersham |
Sydney -City and Inner South |
$1,741,931 |
15.3% |
3 |
Hornsby |
Sydney -North Sydney and Hornsby |
$1,485,422 |
15.3% |
4 |
Strathfield -Burwood -Ashfield |
Sydney -Inner West |
$917,641 |
14.9% |
5 |
Eastern Suburbs -North |
Sydney -Eastern Suburbs |
$1,988,175 |
14.6% |
6 |
Warringah |
Sydney -Northern Beaches |
$2,068,585 |
14.5% |
7 |
Canterbury |
Sydney -Inner South West |
$1,085,111 |
14.3% |
8 |
Mount Druitt |
Sydney -Blacktown |
$812,868 |
14.1% |
9 |
Merrylands -Guildford |
Sydney -Parramatta |
$1,060,399 |
14.1% |
10 |
Leichhardt |
Sydney -Inner West |
$2,007,850 |
14.0% |
Greater Melbourne |
||||
1 |
Darebin -North |
Melbourne -North East |
$762,619 |
7.9% |
2 |
Banyule |
Melbourne -North East |
$935,214 |
7.7% |
3 |
Monash |
Melbourne -South East |
$1,223,086 |
7.6% |
4 |
Knox |
Melbourne -Outer East |
$910,533 |
7.5% |
5 |
Manningham -West |
Melbourne -Inner East |
$1,388,013 |
7.1% |
6 |
Manningham -East |
Melbourne -Outer East |
$1,539,018 |
6.9% |
7 |
Whitehorse -West |
Melbourne -Inner East |
$1,213,085 |
6.7% |
8 |
Whitehorse -East |
Melbourne -Outer East |
$1,185,513 |
6.1% |
9 |
Casey -North |
Melbourne -South East |
$808,703 |
5.3% |
10 |
Casey -South |
Melbourne -South East |
$758,745 |
5.1% |
Greater Brisbane |
||||
1 |
Nathan |
Brisbane -South |
$1,079,497 |
22.0% |
2 |
Mt Gravatt |
Brisbane -South |
$1,117,075 |
21.2% |
3 |
Sunnybank |
Brisbane -South |
$1,026,758 |
19.4% |
4 |
Carindale |
Brisbane -South |
$1,212,544 |
19.1% |
5 |
Holland Park -Yeronga |
Brisbane -South |
$756,166 |
18.8% |
6 |
Springwood -Kingston |
Logan -Beaudesert |
$638,552 |
17.1% |
7 |
Chermside |
Brisbane -North |
$945,095 |
16.7% |
8 |
Rocklea -Acacia Ridge |
Brisbane -South |
$935,200 |
16.2% |
9 |
Nundah |
Brisbane -North |
$794,173 |
15.7% |
10 |
Forest Lake -Oxley |
Ipswich |
$665,472 |
15.4% |
Greater Adelaide |
||||
1 |
Playford |
Adelaide -North |
$474,782 |
14.3% |
2 |
Gawler -Two Wells |
Adelaide -North |
$590,250 |
13.7% |
3 |
Salisbury |
Adelaide -North |
$582,159 |
13.2% |
4 |
Tea Tree Gully |
Adelaide -North |
$700,396 |
11.5% |
5 |
Port Adelaide -West |
Adelaide -West |
$691,116 |
11.0% |
6 |
Onkaparinga |
Adelaide -South |
$663,042 |
9.9% |
7 |
Port Adelaide -East |
Adelaide -North |
$737,926 |
8.5% |
8 |
Marion |
Adelaide -South |
$797,606 |
8.3% |
9 |
Campbelltown |
Adelaide -Central and Hills |
$859,213 |
8.2% |
10 |
Burnside |
Adelaide -Central and Hills |
$1,416,110 |
8.2% |
Top 10 capital cities SA3s with the highest 12-month value growth – Dwellings. Source: CoreLogic
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.
The remote northern island wants more visitors: ‘It’s the rumbling before the herd is coming,’ one hotel manager says
As European hot spots become overcrowded , travellers are digging deeper to find those less-populated but still brag-worthy locations. Greenland, moving up the list, is bracing for its new popularity.
Aria Varasteh has been to 69 countries, including almost all of Europe. He now wants to visit more remote places and avoid spots swarmed by tourists—starting with Greenland.
“I want a taste of something different,” said the 34-year-old founder of a consulting firm serving clients in the Washington, D.C., area.
He originally planned to go to Nuuk, the island’s capital, this fall via out-of-the-way connections, given there wasn’t a nonstop flight from the U.S. But this month United Airlines announced a nonstop, four-hour flight from Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey to Nuuk. The route, beginning next summer, is a first for a U.S. airline, according to Greenland tourism officials.
It marks a significant milestone in the territory’s push for more international visitors. Airlines ran flights with a combined 55,000 seats to Greenland from April to August of this year, says Jens Lauridsen, chief executive officer of Greenland Airports. That figure will nearly double next year in the same period, he says, to about 105,000 seats.
The possible coming surge of travellers also presents a challenge for a vast island of 56,000 people as nearby destinations from Iceland to Spain grapple with the consequences of over tourism.
Greenlandic officials say they have watched closely and made deliberate efforts to slowly scale up their plans for visitors. An investment north of $700 million will yield three new airports, the first of which will open next month in Nuuk.
“It’s the rumbling before the herd is coming,” says Mads Mitchell, general manager of Hotel Nordbo, a 67-room property in Nuuk. The owner of his property is considering adding 50 more rooms to meet demand in the coming years.
Mitchell has recently met with travel agents from Brooklyn, N.Y., South Korea and China. He says he welcomes new tourists, but fears tourism will grow too quickly.
“Like in Barcelona, you get tired of tourists, because it’s too much and it pushes out the locals, that is my concern,” he says. “So it’s finding this balance of like showing the love for Greenland and showing the amazing possibilities, but not getting too much too fast.”
Greenland is an autonomous territory of Denmark more than three times the size of Texas. Tourists travel by boat or small aircraft when venturing to different regions—virtually no roads connect towns or settlements.
Greenland decided to invest in airport infrastructure in 2018 as part of an effort to expand tourism and its role in the economy, which is largely dependent on fishing and subsidies from Denmark. In the coming years, airports in Ilulissat and Qaqortoq, areas known for their scenic fjords, will open.
One narrow-body flight, like what United plans, will generate $200,000 in spending, including hotels, tours and other purchases, Lauridsen says. He calls it a “very significant economic impact.”
In 2023, foreign tourism brought a total of over $270 million to Greenland’s economy, according to Visit Greenland, the tourism and marketing arm owned by the government. Expedition cruises visit the territory, as well as adventure tours.
United will fly twice weekly to Nuuk on its 737 MAX 8, which will seat 166 passengers, starting in June .
“We look for new destinations, we look for hot destinations and destinations, most importantly, we can make money in,” Andrew Nocella , United’s chief commercial officer, said in the company’s earnings call earlier in October.
Greenland has looked to nearby Iceland to learn from its experiences with tourism, says Air Greenland Group CEO Jacob Nitter Sørensen. Tiny Iceland still has about seven times the population of its western neighbour.
Nuuk’s new airport will become the new trans-Atlantic hub for Air Greenland, the national carrier. It flies to 14 airports and 46 heliports across the territory.
“Of course, there are discussions about avoiding mass tourism. But right now, I think there is a natural limit in terms of the receiving capacity,” Nitter says.
Air Greenland doesn’t fly nonstop from the U.S. because there isn’t currently enough space to accommodate all travellers in hotels, Nitter says. Air Greenland is building a new hotel in Ilulissat to increase capacity when the airport opens.
Nuuk has just over 550 hotel rooms, according to government documents. A tourism analysis published by Visit Greenland predicts there could be a shortage in rooms beginning in 2027. Most U.S. visitors will stay four to 10 nights, according to traveler sentiment data from Visit Greenland.
As travel picks up, visitors should expect more changes. Officials expect to pass new legislation that would further regulate tourism in time for the 2025 season. Rules on zoning would give local communities the power to limit tourism when needed, says Naaja H. Nathanielsen, minister for business, trade, raw materials, justice and gender equality.
Areas in a so-called red zone would ban tour operators. In northern Greenland, traditional hunting takes place at certain times of year and requires silence, which doesn’t work with cruise ships coming in, Nathanielsen says.
Part of the proposal would require tour operators to be locally based to ensure they pay taxes in Greenland and so that tourists receive local knowledge of the culture. Nathanielsen also plans to introduce a proposal to govern cruise tourism to ensure more travelers stay and eat locally, rather than just walk around for a few hours and grab a cup of coffee, she says.
Public sentiment has remained in favour of tourism as visitor arrivals have increased, Nathanielsen says.
—Roshan Fernandez contributed to this article.
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.