House prices still on up

Tassie values close in on Brisbane as rents fall

HOME values in Hobart have climbed higher edging closer to Brisbane while rents remained squarely in the negative, a property report shows.

In the October Home Value Index from CoreLogic, the Tasmanian capital recorded a median dwelling value – houses and units combined – of $ 498,073.

It was $ 38,040 higher than Hobart’s median at the same time last year.

That figure was $ 12,280 lower than Brisbane’s October median, but higher than Perth, Adelaide and Darwin.

With 6.5 per cent annual growth, only Canberra had a larger median price change than Hobart. Meanwhile, Tasmania’s regional housing markets continued to outperform the capital cities with a 9.8 per cent annual change in median prices. CoreLogic head of research Tim Lawless said the new- found popularity of working from home was among the factors helping to support regional home prices.

“More affordable price points, lower densities and lifestyle factors are also underpinning the relative strength across many regional areas of the country,” he said.

Real Estate institute of Tasmania president Mandy Welling said Hobart’s annual growth was “a considerable” 2.6 per cent above the national average.

“If this trend continues it will only be a matter of time before we challenge capital cities like Brisbane,” she said.

Between March 31 and October 31, Hobart rents have reduced by - 4.3 per cent for houses, the largest fall of the capital cities. Unit rents also receded by - 6.1 per cent units, the second largest fall behind only Melbourne.

Mrs Welling said while Hobart rents had decreased she believed Tasmanians “should not become complacent”. She said renters should expect to see costs change dramatically over the next few months.

“This decrease can be attributed to landlords negotiating rent reductions and properties in the higher end of the market becoming a little more difficult to let,” she said.

“We expect this to be short lived.”

Mr Lawless described Hobart’s rental price reduction as “significant”. He said the drop in Hobart rents comes after several years of significant rises; despite the recent drop, house rents are up 27.2 per cent over the past five years and unit rents are 30.7 per cent higher.