Hobart property market continues to defy pandemic

THE price of a Hobart home has grown by a six-figure sum over the past three years.

In 2018, the southernmost capital city had a median dwelling price of $409,160.

By 2018 it was $457,785 and at this time last year $481,665.

The latest CoreLogic Home Value Index puts Hobart’s median dwelling price – houses and units combined – at $523,932, just $3894 behind Brisbane.

Hobart has a higher median home value than Adelaide, Perth and Darwin.

The report revealed 1.6 per cent growth in January, which was second only to Darwin and the same as Perth. The median grew in Hobart by 3.7 per cent in the past three months and by 6.8 per cent in the past year.

Regional Tasmania continued the trend of nation-leading home value growth with a 12.1 per cent uptick in annual growth and 5.8 per cent in the past three months.

Hobart was the only city in which annual rental house prices receded, -0.1 per cent. Annual unit rentals also dipped, by -0.7.

Meanwhile, gross rental yields hit 4.6 per cent in Hobart and 5 per cent in regional Tasmania. The combined capitals sit at 3.4 per cent and combined regionals at 4.8 per cent.

PRD Hobart director Tony Collidge says he believes wages are the only thing that can put a ceiling on how high Hobart home prices can go.

“People can only afford to pay so much and it’s normally wages that determine that,” Mr Collidge said.

“We are in an interesting place at the moment where supply can’t meet demand and this is putting an incredible amount of pressure on prices.

“I can’t see this changing for some time as we simply can’t get enough new homes into the market.”

CoreLogic’s research director Tim Lawless said the housing market started the year on a firm footing, setting the scene for further price rises.