Homes in the Upper Hunter have added up to $50,000 to their values over the past twelve months, the second-highest jump in regional NSW and well above the national average.
Data from CoreLogic’s Home Value index reveals properties in the local region increased by an average of 10.3 per cent over the last financial year, significantly higher than the national average growth rate of 8 per cent, and the national regional average of 7 per cent.
CoreLogic’s Tim Lawless said the region has performed exceptionally well.
“The Upper Hunter was the second-strongest performing market across regional NSW,” Mr Lawless said.
“The better performer, funnily enough, was Richmond Valley, the Hinterland area, west of Byron Bay. We saw values there increase nearly 13 per cent over the year.”
Mr Lawless said the news was good for local home owners.
“Absolutely, we’ve seen housing values right across regional Australia come up 7 per cent, which in dollar terms means an increase of about $41,000 over the past financial year.
“There does seem to be a bit of a trend here towards markets that I guess have a bit of a lifestyle appeal to them, a lot of space, or they might be commutable back into capitals, within some level of proximity at least – not that you’d want to commuting from the Hunter to Sydney every day, but there does seem to be some commonality there.”
Other highlights from the CoreLogic Home Value Index:
- Home values rose 0.7% in June, taking growth to 8.0% across FY2023-24. This is the equivalent of a $59,000 increase to the median dwelling value in Australia, which is now $794,000.
- Most regions are trending higher in value, with only Melbourne (-0.2%) and regional Victoria (-0.3%) showing declines in June.
- The mid-sized capitals continue to record the strongest growth conditions, Perth (2.0%), Adelaide (1.7%) and Brisbane (1.2%). However, severe housing shortages persist with listings holding significantly below average in June.
- Regional markets mirror capital trends, with Regional WA (1.5%,) leading the capital gains followed by Regional SA (1.1%), and Regional Qld (1.0%).
- Unit rental growth slows significantly across the three largest capitals, with Sydney recording the largest drop in annual rental growth.
- Rents were up 0.4% nationally in June, in line with the easing trend over the past few months but remains well above average.
- Gross rental yields are stablising, holding around 3.5% across the combined capitals.
- An undersupply of housing remains the primary factor keeping upwards pressure on home values despite a growing element of downside risk.
- New listings flow across the country is tracking 12% higher than a year ago, and 4% above the previous five-year average.
- Household financial hardship is increasing, with APRA’s latest data for the March quarter showing that mortgage arrears are rising but remain contained
