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High house prices, rents a concern in the Hunter

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Facing a hurdle or two in locating a rental, or securing a property, in the Hunter Valley?

Well, you’re not alone, according to Shadow Minister for Housing and Homelessness Jason Clare.

The federal member, who joined Paterson MP Meryl Swanson at Gillieston Heights on Friday 5 November, was shocked by the skyrocketing costs in the region over the past 12 months.

House prices in the Hunter have jumped by 29% – much more than the national average of 21.9%.

Worryingly, it’s a similar story surrounding rent, too.

While weekly payments in Sydney have increased by 5.5%, they’ve risen by three or four times that amount throughout suburbs such as Swansea, Mannering Park, Gwandalan, New Lambton and many more.

“All of that means if you own a home here at the moment, that’s fantastic,” Mr Clare said.

“The value of your property’s gone up.

“But, if you’re a young person or if you’ve got kids who are looking to buy a home, it’s just getting harder and harder to be able to buy a place where you grew up in the Hunter.

“If you’re renting, it means that more and more of your money goes to paying the rent rather than saving for a deposit or giving money to the kids for school excursions or just putting food on the table.”

According to the Domain Rental Report (September 2021), Swansea boasts the biggest annual increase, at 22.4%, with the median cost $478.

Not far behind is Mannering Park (18.4% – $450), Gwandalan (17.5% – $470), New Lambton (17% – $550), Gateshead (16.9% – $450), Newcastle (15.6% – $520), Broadmeadow (12.8% – $530), Nelson Bay (11.4% – $490), East Maitland (10% – $440), Medowie (9.5% – $520) and Kurri Kurri (8.5% – $385).

“I heard a story the other day, not far from here, where two police officers moved to the Central Coast,” Mr Clare said.

“They were looking for a place to rent for $800 a week – and they couldn’t find one. 

“If you’ve got two police officers who can’t find an affordable place to rent, what hope do people on lower and very modest incomes have, whether it’s in Sydney, the Central Coast or the Hunter?

“This [Morrison] government has been in power now for almost a decade and things are getting worse not better.

“We can do better than that.

“But, it’s going to take an Albanese Labor government to focus on housing, to show a bit of leadership from Canberra.

“We’ll have to work with state governments, local governments and communities to make it easier for Aussies to buy a home and make it easier for them to rent and to reduce the number of Aussies who just don’t have a roof over their head at all today.”

Mr Clare admitted housing affordability in the Hunter was worse under the Liberals, too.

Citing the Domain House Price Report (September 2021), he pinpointed Gwandalan, which enjoyed a massive 34.3% surge, with an average price of $658,000.

Other high-rating suburbs include San Remo (28.9% – $580,000), Merewether (28% – $1,600,000), Wallsend (24.7% – $605,000), Swansea (23.8% – $681,000), Newcastle (23.2% – $790,000), Mayfield (23.1% – $720,000), Cessnock (22.2% – $446,000), Glendale (21.7% – $614,000), Gillieston Heights (21.2% – $610,000), East Maitland (20.6% – $615,000) and Medowie (20.3% – $661,875).

“The good news is there are lots of young families coming here to live in a great part of Australia,” Mr Clare said.

“However, it’s getting harder and harder to do that.

“And, when wages are flat and house prices are like that, it means we hear more stories of people, who tell us, if we hadn’t bought a couple of years ago, we wouldn’t be here now.

“We need to do more to make it easier for more young families to be able to buy a home and raise a family in the Hunter region.”

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