Sydney April Property Report

The past twelve months to March have been good to Australian property values with every state capital increasing in price. Sydney has been the standout increasing by 14.1% for the past year. The capital city average is 10.6 % but Melbourne (11.6%) was the only other city greater. Sydney (4.4%) was one of only three cities to record a better than 4% growth for the past three months behind Melbourne (5.4%) and Hobart (4.7%) but above the average of 3.5%.

Sydney is only one of four capital cities whose property values are still higher than its previous peak. Currently it is 15.8% greater which is significantly larger than the next best, which is in Melbourne who is 4.7% better off. Combined capital city home values are now 7.2% greater than their previous peak which was in October 2010.

Sydney currently has the highest property values in the state with median house values at $713,000 and  $448,000 for units, the mean is $535,000 and $451,500 respectively. Sydney also has the greatest differential between houses and units, $160,500. The median weekly rent for houses ($591) trumps the national average of $483 and it’s the same story for units, $517 compared to $452.

Across the twelve months to February 2014, the most expensive sector of the housing market has been the best performer, while the most affordable markets have been the weakest. Over the year, the most affordable suburbs have recorded value increases of 9.1%, compared to 10.8% across the middle market and 11.2% across the most expensive suburbs.

Nationally 9.7% of all homes which re-sold over the three months to December 2013 incurred a gross loss compared with a peak of 13.1% over the quarter ending January 2013. At the capital city level, the proportion of loss making re-sales has been lower than the national average since early 2009. This quarter 6.5% of all capital city re-sales recorded a gross loss. Sydney had the lowest proportion of resale losses, 3.6%, but regional New South Wales did not do as well with 10.8% recording a loss. While most loss resales occurred after 3-5 years across the other cities, 1-3 years was the most detrimental for Sydney.

Gosford (11.2%) was the only region with more than 10% of their quarterly sales at a loss. On the other hand, there were no loss-making resales over the quarter in Burwood and Hunters Hill.

The number of unique properties listed for sale in Sydney has increased from the same time last year. However the number of total listings has decreased. This is reflective of the rapid rate of sale that has happened over the past twelve months. Basically properties are being sold faster than they are being listed on the market. This is a result of buyer demand increasing and quality listings not staying in the market for long.

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Source: RP Data