VALUES PUSH HIGHER
Every Hobart suburb has recorded double-digit median house price growth over the past year, writes Jarrad Bevan.
RELENTLESS growth in the Hobart property market has seen record sale prices smashed, new auction benchmarks set and homes sold for six-figure sums above their asking price.
Tasmania’s ‘new normal’ is a frenzied market.
In the latest data from CoreLogic it was revealed that every Hobart suburb has recorded double-digit annual median house price growth.
Of those 46 suburbs, the growth ranged from 11.4 per cent in Kingston and Tranmere up to 30.9 per cent in Carlton, 31.5 per cent in Primrose Sands and a gigantic 33.3 per cent in Rokeby.
Through the past quarter, the strongest performing markets were Lauderdale with 10.9 per cent growth, Montrose at 10 per cent and Moonah and 9.8 per cent.
The quarter’s top three suburbs for median unit growth were New Town (10.4 per cent), Sandy Bay (13.1 per cent) and Battery Point (15.8) per cent.
On an annual basis, greater Hobart’s unit growth ranged from 16.8 per cent in New Town up to 21.9 per cent in Blackmans Bay and Sandy Bay, through to 22.6 per cent in Glenorchy and 24.2 per cent in Lindisfarne.
CoreLogic Australia head of research
Eliza Owen said regional Tasmania and Hobart had recorded an extraordinary 7.4 per cent lift in dwelling values over the June quarter.
For Hobart, she said this took values 19.6 per cent higher over the year, and for regional Tasmania, dwelling values increased 20.8 per cent through the financial year.
“While housing values are surging, transaction activity has actually fallen across Hobart, down 0.6 per cent in the past 12 months compared with the previous financial year,” Ms Owen said.
“The lack of sales activity has more to do with low advertised stock levels than buyer demand.
“Advertised supply is tracking around record lows and almost -40 per cent below the five-year average.
“Across regional Tasmania, listings are in an even greater deficit, with advertised stock on market sitting -52.2 per cent below the five year average.
“With listings low and demand high, the natural outcome is a substantial rise in values.”
Ms Owen said amid a persistent uplift in house values, Tasmania’s highest growth rates have concentrated across more remote, affordable towns such as Roseberry and Queenstown.
These West Coast hubs have median house values under $150,000 alongside annual growth above 40 per cent.
In a separate report, CoreLogic revealed that it was marginally cheaper to service a mortgage than to rent in Hobart and substantially more affordable in regional Tasmania.
Property consultant Edward McKay from EIS Property says in recent years the Tassie market had “pivoted”.
He said properties that might have, at a time, been considered average were now commanding premiums.
“The goalposts have not only moved, the game has now changed,” he said.
“The market that we are experiencing is sustainable for the foreseeable future as interstate and international buyers look to relocate here and be part of the amazing lifestyle that Tasmania has been able to keep a secret until recent years.”
Mr McKay said the rewards and challenges of growth require state and local governments to move quickly.
“We need to ensure that we maintain our natural integrity while encouraging future population growth,” he said.