Housing prices across Newcastle and the Lake Macquarie region are slowly starting to cool, a new report says, though both are still outperforming major capital cities elsewhere in Australia.
According to the Cotality Home Value Index (HVI) released this week, there was a 0.2 percent rise in the Hunter’s median dwelling value last month. That was a decline on the growth in April, though, which seems to signal a cooling trend coming to the region.
Buyers may have more control soon, too, with the number of homes listed in Newcastle-Maitland up 18.8 percent on a year earlier.
That, in turn, has seen short-term value growth losing momentum.
Cotality’s head of research, Gerard Burg, said this is consistent with slowed momentum across the country, and will likely continue to be a trend in Newcastle and the region.
“Relative affordability continues to attract buyers to many regional markets and support internal migration from the capitals,” Mr Burg said.
“However, softer buyer demand is becoming more evident across the country, with fewer markets recording the strong growth seen earlier this year.”
The median dwelling value across Newcastle-Maitland is now $964,568. That is down 1.3 percent for the quarter, though still 8.9 percent higher than a year ago and up almost a third over five years.
The typical Newcastle-Maitland home has been selling in 23 days. That is the shortest time on the market across New South Wales, and is down from 30 days locally a year earlier.
Prices are still quite high, with two in three homes in Newcastle-Maitland going for more than $800K, and one in three over $1M.
Nelson Bay recorded one of the steepest quarterly falls when it came to house values in regional NSW, to a median of $1,020,714. Half of all sales there are still above $1M, though.
Medowie slipped 3.1 percent, to $922,785, while Morisset-Cooranbong fell 2.3 percent; that now edges above Newcastle-Maitland.
Muswellbrook was the only local market to rise, up 1.5 percent to a median of $604,845 and 9.7 percent higher over the year. Singleton posted the region’s strongest annual growth, at 10.6 percent, with sales volumes up by a quarter and a median of $760,894.
For renters, things are still tight, with the median asking rent across Newcastle and Maitland at around $722 a week in July.
The region has seen a vacancy rate of 1.6 percent through the period.
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