SOUTH AUSTRALIA
STANDOUT LOCATION Mount Gambier
This is one of the largest regional centres in South Australia, offering affordable housing, lifestyle opportunities and employment growth in a vibrant regional economy. With a median house price of $390,000 (up 9% in 2023) and yields above 5%, Mount Gambier is a location worth considering.
2023 REVIEWED – City of Salisbury
Our comment last year was: “With affordability the driving force in real estate and affordable Adelaide one of the leading markets nationally, the northern suburbs of the city are attracting growing demand”. In 2023 every City of Salisbury suburb had doubledigit price growth, with some up 20%.
Adelaide is the nation’s No. 1 market for consistency. While the bigger cities have had ups and downs over recent years, Adelaide navigated 2022 without any problems and chugged on steadily in 2023.
The city is underpinned by one of Australia’s strongest economies (ranked No. 2 in the October 2023 edition of State of the States by CommSec) and attracts buyers because it’s considerably cheaper than the bigger cities.
It also has the most persistently low vacancy rates in capital city Australia: the national vacancy rate was just 1.1% in November (SQM Research), but Adelaide was less than half the national level at 0.5%.
It’s expected to be a solid, steady market in 2024, but not a booming one – with good performance spread across Greater Adelaide, but most notably in the bottom end areas and parts of the middle market.
The cheaper areas, including the Playford and Salisbury LGAs in the northern suburbs, continue to attract demand, while middle areas such as the Campbelltown, Port Adelaide Enfield and Tea Tree Gully municipalities provide a blend of quality and affordability.
Regional South Australia is always overlooked in national discussions about real estate, but it continues to be one of Australia’s best performers. In 2023, the median house price for regional SA rose 10% (only Sydney, Perth and Brisbane did better).
Affordable regional centres such as Mount Gambier and Murray Bridge have good prospects, while the towns of the Copper Coast have busy markets and lifestyle locations such as Victor Harbor and Port Elliot continue to attract buyers out of Adelaide.
STANDOUT LOCATION Kingston
The summer 2023-24 edition of the Price Predictor Index found only one suburb in Canberra worthy of the ‘rising’ classification – inner-city Kingston. Canberra is an expensive city, and the second most pricey real estate market after Sydney. But Kingston’s apartment market had a median price of $655,000, according to CoreLogic.
2023 REVIEWED – Canberra
We said a year ago: “Steadiness is the hallmark of the ACT property market and there’s no reason why 2023 will be any different, with prices likely to show minor increases throughout the coming year”. Canberra’s median house price rose 1.0% in 2023, according to CoreLogic, compared to the national average of 8.3%.
Canberra has long been renowned for its consistency and steadiness as a property market, but in 2023 it sullied its reputation.
By year end it was ranked as the weakest market jurisdiction in the nation by a considerable margin.
The summer 2023-24 edition of the Price Predictor Index commented:
“Canberra continues to be Australia’s weakest property market, bereft of any signs of life or energy, contrary to trends elsewhere across the nation. While many other cities have vibrant markets, the national capital is mired in the mediocrity of the politicians who reside there.”
While many of the capital cities had markets that got stronger and stronger in 2023, Canberra went in the opposite direction, weakening noticeably as the year wore on. Declining sales activity was a characteristic of most of the national capital’s suburbs, with the inner-city apartment enclave of Kingston the only exception.
This steady decline in sales activity has been happening in Canberra for the past 18 months, with no signs of improvement.
It hasn’t helped that the ACT has a weak economy, ranked second last among the States and Territories by CommSec’s State of the States report.