OTHER STATES AND TERRITORIES
The “other states and territories” deserve greater prominence – Canberra, Hobart and Darwin have been among the outstanding performers in 2020. They also have extremely low vacancy rates and rising rentals.
Canberra stood out as the only capital city to deliver price growth every month after the pandemic struck in February, according to CoreLogic data. House prices rose 8% last year.
Hobart has been a leader for capital city price growth for several years and in 2020 recorded a further 6.5% increase. But regional Tasmania did better, rising 10.5%, says CoreLogic.
After several years of decline, Darwin prices surged in the second half of 2020 and were up 9% by the end of the year.
Canberra, Hobart and Darwin all have vacancy rates well below 1%, according to SQM Research figures published in December. Rents have surged in Darwin in particular. We expect Canberra to do in 2021 what it always does: deliver steady, consistent markets with solid price growth.
The greatest price uplift for Tasmania this year is likely to be seen in the regional towns, where there was a noticeable increase in sales activity in the second half of 2020.
The Tasmanian economy is ranked No. 1 in the nation by CommSec’s State of the States report and this healthy economy will continue to drive price growth, further boosted by the lifestyle trend, for which Tasmania is a natural fit.
Darwin is clearly on the comeback trail – how far this extends will depend on the territory economy, which continues to be weak. It has been the only city suffering population loss in recent years, but the trends unleashed by the pandemic, with an influx from other parts of Australia, may reverse this.