A newly released report focusing on Australia’s property market performance in larger regions outside of the capitals has found the Geelong region recorded the largest annual increase in median values for both houses (16.6 per cent) and units (11.9 per cent).
Townsville and Bunbury were the only regions to see both house and unit values fall over the 12 months to September 2018, and Latrobe-Gippsland and Wide Bay were the only regions where sales activity increased over the year to August 2018.
The regional analysis on rental properties found that Wide Bay was the only region where advertised rental rates remained unchanged year-on-year for both houses and units. The largest increase in advertised rental rates for houses was found in the Gold Coast, whereas for units, the largest increase was seen in Newcastle & Lake Macquarie over the year to September 2018.
New South Wales
Sales activity was lower year-on-year across all three regions, with the biggest fall in sales volumes seen across Illawarra (-14.7 per cent) when compared to August 2017. Advertised rental rates increased over the year to September 2018, with Richmond-Tweed recording the largest increase for houses (4.7 per cent), and Newcastle & Lake Macquarie recording the largest increase for units (5.3 per cent). All three regions across New South Wales saw growth in home values over the year to September 2018, with the largest increase for houses seen across the Newcastle & Lake Macquarie region where the median house value increased by 9.0 per cent. The largest increase for units was seen across the Richmond-Tweed region, where the median unit value increased by 9.3 per cent.
Queensland
Townsville was once again the only region to see values fall for both houses and units, down -1.3 per cent and -3.9 per cent respectively.
The largest increase in house values was seen across the Sunshine Coast (7.7 per cent), followed by the Gold Coast (4.3 per cent), Wide Bay (1.7 per cent) and Cairns (1.4 per cent). Looking at units, the Sunshine Coast saw the largest increase in median unit value (5.3 per cent), followed by the Gold Coast (2.8 per cent), while median unit values across Cairns (-0.7 per cent) and Wide Bay (-0.6 per cent) fell over the year.
Dwelling sales were down in four of the five Queensland regions over the year to August 2018 with the Wide Bay region once again the only location to see an increase in home sales (2 per cent). Looking at the Queensland rental market over the 12 months to September 2018, advertised rental rates across the Wide Bay remain in line with one year ago for both houses and units, while Townsville houses have also seen no change. The largest increase in rental rates for houses was seen across the Gold Coast (4.8 per cent), while for units, Townsville saw the largest increase (3.7 per cent).
Victoria
Sales activity was down -9 per cent across Geelong, while the Latrobe-Gippsland region saw a 6 per cent increase in the number of homes transacting over the year to August. Both regions saw home values increase over the 12 months to September 2018, with median values increasing by 16.6 per cent for houses and 11.9 per cent for units in Geelong, compared to the Latrobe-Gippsland region, where median house and unit values increased by 6.9 per cent and 6.4 per cent respectively. Over the 12 months to September 2018, the advertised rental rate for units in Latrobe-Gippsland remained unchanged, while house rents have increased by 1.8 per cent. In Geelong, advertised rental rates for houses increased by 2.9 per cent, while unit rents increased by 3.3 per cent.
Western Australia
The Bunbury region saw house values fall -4.6 per cent over the year to September 2018, while unit values fell -4.9 per cent. Sales volumes across the region continue to fall, down -3 per cent over the 12 months to August, with current activity -11 per cent below the five year average. Rental rates in the Bunbury region fell -1.6 per cent for units compared to September 2017, while advertised rates for houses were unchanged over the same period.