House Prices
House prices
Data source: NSW Govt Rent and Sales Report
The latest data shows the median price of housing in the Hunter continuing recent increases, with a 2.5% increase in the October quarter, and an annual increase of 5.4% for the year in the Greater Newcastle Area (for the Cessnock, Lake Macquarie, Maitland, Newcastle and Port Stephens, based on the aggregate available in the NSW Govt Rent and Sales Report see regional explanations in the footnotes). All LGAs have been trending upwards in prices over the last 12-24 months, whilst still being below NSW averages on a value basis. The largest price increases in the 6 months to December 2024 are evident in Upper Hunter Shire and Singleton, although both are partly due to rebounds from earlier declines in 2023. Overall, there is a fairly clear picture of modest to large price increases evident across all LGAs.
Data source: NSW Govt Rent and Sales Report
Rental prices
For renters, the latest quarterly data (March 2025) showed a stagnation in rental increases, providing some relief from a 9% increase over the preceding 12 months. The data below is for the median weekly rent for 3-bedroom stand-alone houses. It is possible to see the median value by LGA, or the median values by LGA indexed to September 2010 (i.e. showing relative price increases for each LGA before and after September 2010). The latest data from the NSW Govt Rent and Sales Report extends to the first quarter of 2025.
Data source: NSW Govt Rent and Sales Report. Data indexed to start 2009.
In the 6 months to March 2025, all LGAs showed either increases or stable rent prices. All LGAs saw a 6-month increase of over 4%, except for Mid-Coast and Maitland. The Upper Hunter Shire showed the largest increase with a 11.2% increase over the 6 months to March 2025. In comparison, Greater Sydney was flat.
Data source: NSW Govt Rent and Sales Report
House prices to annual rent ratio
The ratio of house prices to annual rent has generally continued to decline across the region (see figure below). However, the strengthening of house price increases means that this decline is not as uniform or as strong as in late 2022 and early 2023. A decline implies that it is a more attractive time to invest in housing than in previous years, as rental prices have been increasing faster than house prices during this period. The figure below shows the ratio of house price for a median 3-bedroom house to the rental price. Internationally, a value of 20 is a common baseline, and Australia tracks well above this number (reflecting the relatively high price of housing purchases). The peak in house prices seen above in 2022 is also evident in the peak in the price-to-rent ratio, implying that rents did not peak in the same way as house prices.
Data source: NSW Govt Rent and Sales Report
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