HOW 2017 TURNED OUT

This time last year I wrote: “The story in the coming year will be much less about Sydney and Melbourne and a lot more about Hobart, Canberra, Adelaide and some of our more vibrant regional cities.”

CoreLogic figures in December 2017 indicated that Hobart had the highest annual house price growth, up 12%, while Sydney’s growth rate was down to 4.4%. Melbourne’s growth rate contracted also but was still a little above 10% at year’s end, while Canberra recorded a solid 7%, with some forecasters suggesting Canberra will be a market leader in 2018 and beyond. Several regional cities also had double-digit growth, led by Newcastle and Geelong.

This time last year I wrote: “One research source, Simon Pressley of Propertyology, has forecast that Hobart will lead the capital cities on price growth in 2017.”

Reports from the ABS and CoreLogic in December 2017 both had Hobart leading the capital cities on price growth.

This time last year I wrote: “Canberra is the Mr Consistent of the capital cities and usually delivers moderate performance. Expect better than moderate in 2017, but not a boom.”

Canberra led the capital cities on rental growth in 2017 and most sources recorded house price growth around 7% for the year.

This time last year I wrote: “We are unlikely to see major price growth in Sydney in 2017 … Sydney is very fully priced and affordability is a barrier.”

By the end of 2017, CoreLogic recorded an annual house price growth rate of 4.4%, while SQM Research reported 6.9% for houses and 4.6% for units.

This time last year I wrote: "The coming year may see revival in some of the resources-related regional towns and cities … There are glimmers of hope that the worst may be over for Gladstone, Mackay, Emerald and the towns of the Bowen Basin and the Surat Basin.”

All of those Queensland resources-related areas saw vacancies fall markedly and there were signs of revival in sales activity, although prices remained weak.