Where regional Australian house prices moved the most: Domain House Price Report

Prices in some areas of regional Australia have shot up by nearly a third, the latest house price data, shows as a result of COVID-19 luring people away from the cities back to the country.

“I’ve never seen anything like this in 48 years in real estate; it’s absolutely crazy,” said agent John Lawson, of Southern Grampians Livestock and Real Estate, in Victoria’s south-west. “It’s just unprecedented.

“We’ve had people from Melbourne, Queensland, other regional centres and even Western Australia buying houses and blocks of land sight unseen. They all just want to get out.”

Prices in the Southern Grampians have risen by a stunning 31.1 per cent year on year, to a new median house price of $295,000, Domain’s House Price Report for the September quarter found.

In NSW, the most popular place to flee to has been the considerably more expensive Byron, experiencing a heart-stopping 29.2 per cent price jump to $1.16 million.

“We’ve always seen people coming here from the cities, but now it’s more than ever,” said Oliver Aldridge, of First National Byron. “We’re being seen as a safe haven from the pandemic and, with people now able to work from home, why not live here?”

It’s a trend sweeping Australia, and one likely to shift into even higher gear as state border restrictions gradually lift.

Domain senior research analyst Dr Nicola Powell said: “What we’ve seen is that those areas that offer buyers something different are proving magic drawcards for buyers to move. It might be quality inland areas that have plenty of infrastructure, or places on the coast.

“It’s a real trend of sea and tree change that we were seeing already, but the pandemic has accelerated that. In addition, with people being able to work from home, interest in the areas beyond the cities has increased.”

The vigour of the regional market has meant there aren’t many bargains, with few areas that have seen prices drop substantially.

In NSW, the top price fall has been in Inverell in northern NSW near the Queensland border, with a 5.6 per cent fall to a median of $255,000. In Victoria, it’s been Moira in the Hume region with a 5.3 per cent fall to $322,000, and in Queensland, the Douglas local government area, down 16.2 per cent to $418,000, likely a result of the fall-off in tourism with COVID and border closures.

SOLD - $367,000

130 Henderson Street, Inverell NSW 2360

3

2

1

View property

This Inverell home has a price guide of $375,000.

But the rises are what’s dominating the areas beyond the cities. In Victoria, the other big winners in the top five have been the local government areas of Strathbogie, rising 19.3 per cent to a median of $395,000; Wangaratta, up 15.5 per cent to $365,000; the Northern Grampians, up 13.3 per cent to $255,000; and Corangamite, up 11.7 per cent to $301,500.

In NSW, the other four areas experiencing the biggest price boosts are Forbes in western NSW up 22.2 per cent to $330,000; Kiama up 18.2 per cent to $969,000; Shoalhaven up 14.8 per cent to $620,000; and Hilltops in southern NSW up 14.3 per cent to $315,500.

$255,000

13 Wirbill Street, Cobram VIC 3644

3

1

-

View property

This house in Cobram is asking $265,000.

At LJ Hooker Forbes, agent John Ilchef said with the advent of COVID-19 he had been expecting a decline in the price of property.

“But we’ve seen an increase in demand from a large amount of interest in moving here instead,” he said. “Some have come from more expensive regions or from Sydney for lifestyle, others for work.

“They might have come here for a holiday as they haven’t been able to go overseas and found it a congenial and pleasant place with an appealing lifestyle, and very affordable, and then decided to move permanently here.”

In Queensland, while lifestyle areas such as Noosa – up 15.3 per cent – are also rising, they’re still being dwarfed by the price strength of the resource-rich regions.

SOLD - $830,000

51 Endeavour Street, Port Douglas QLD 4877

5

3

6

View property

This Port Douglas home is listed with a price guide of $849,000.

Isaac in Central Queensland, with lots of mining activity, particularly coal, was the top performer in that state with a 22.7 per cent rise to a median house price of $270,000, and Northam in Western Australia, with magnetite mining set to start in 2021, recorded a 17.6 per cent jump to $317,500.       

“I think the price rises are connected with confidence in the marketplace,” said John Jolly, of RealWay Property, selling in Clermont, Isaac.

With rents rising fast due to FIFO workers, many are also finding it just as cheap to buy as to rent, says Brooke Edwards, of Hoch & Wilkinson. “And, building inspectors are telling us that people are buying here so they can cross the border from Victoria here,” she said.

In Tasmania, an era of fast-rising prices in Hobart are pushing people into the more affordable Derwent Valley – which has seen a price rise of 28 per cent to a median of $352,000.

But price falls are still scarce. In NSW, the only three areas with price falls have been Inverell, Broken Hill down 3 per cent to $145,000 and Gunnedah, down 1.4 per cent to $345,000.

“We’re coming off the back of 18 months of drought leading up to COVID,” said Sean Taylor ,of Professionals Inverell. “Thankfully, we had some rain in December/January and we’ve seen a lot of people moving into the area from the city and coast since.”

In Victoria, there have been five areas with falls, with Moira, Indigo down 3.5 per cent to $390,000, Murrindindi down 2.2 per cent to $450,000, Horsham down 1.9 per cent to $289,500 and the Alpine region down 0.1 per cent to $464,500.