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 1.3% increase from December 2023 to March 2024 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 maintained significantly higher median prices than pre-COVID. Most are still below NSW averages on a value basis, but Lake Macquarie median prices have now matched the NSW average for the first time. Price increases in the 6 months to March 2024 are evident in Upper Hunter Shire, Muswellbrook, Lake Macquarie and Newcastle. Singleton saw a small decline but has a volatile median price history (with a small number of sales) over the last 12 months. Mid-coast, Maitland, Cessnock, Port Stephens, as well as Greater Sydney and median NSW all saw a zero change in median house price over the last 6 months.
Data source: NSW Govt Rent and Sales Report
Rental prices
For renters, there was hope that a peak in rental prices in mid-2023 may be followed by a stabilisation or decline in prices. However, for most LGAs in the Hunter, there is still a strong upward trend in prices. 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 second quarter of 2024.
Data source: NSW Govt Rent and Sales Report. Data indexed to start 2009.
In the 6 months to June 2024, all LGAs showed increases or stable rent prices. Singleton, Muswellbrook and Newcastle had stable prices, whilst Upper-Hunter, Mid-Coast, Maitland, Cessnock, Port Stephens and Lake Macquarie all recorded increases in rents. Maitland saw the largest increase, with a nearly 8% increase in the first half of 2024. In comparison, Greater Sydney had an increase of around 4.7% in the half year to June.
Data source: NSW Govt Rent and Sales Report
House prices to annual rent ratio
The ratio of house prices to annual rent has strongly declined in the last 6 months for the NSW average, continuing earlier declines first seen in 2022. These declines are mirrored for most Hunter LGAs, excluding Dungog, Port Stephens and Maitland. A decline implies that it is a more attractive time to invest in housing than previous years as rental prices have been increasing faster than house prices during the 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 the rents did not peak in the same way as house prices).
Data source: NSW Govt Rent and Sales Report
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