House Prices

Dwelling sale prices

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Data source: NSW Govt Rent and Sales Report

Official DCJ sales data show that dwelling prices increased strongly through the March quarter 2026. The figures below are for the Newcastle Statistical Subdivision (SSD), DCJ’s own aggregate of Cessnock, Lake Macquarie, Maitland, Newcastle and Port Stephens, and cover all dwelling types, strata and non-strata together, so they are a dwelling sale-price measure rather than a house-price one. The SSD median reached $920,000 in the March quarter 2026, +2.9% over the quarter and +12.2% over the year. Non-strata dwellings, the closest available measure of houses, had a median of $968,000, +13.3% over the year. Sales data are published a quarter behind the rent data, so these figures describe the market to March 2026 rather than current conditions. Over the same year Greater Sydney rose 9.8% and New South Wales as a whole 7.2%. The LGA figures that follow, and the charts below, are per-LGA medians for all dwelling types. Over the six months to March 2026, the largest increases among the core five were in Cessnock (11.4%), Port Stephens (8.5%) and Lake Macquarie (7.6%), followed by Maitland (7.4%) and Newcastle (3.7%). Gains were widespread outside the core five as well, led by Dungog (25.7%), Upper Hunter Shire (16.2%) and Singleton (10.7%). Newcastle was the one core LGA to dip over the quarter itself (-1.0%), though it remains 10.2% higher over the year. Even with recent gains, several Hunter LGAs remain below the NSW median value level.

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Data source: NSW Govt Rent and Sales Report

Rental prices

For renters, the latest quarterly data (June 2026) indicates that rents are still edging higher, but the quarterly pace has slowed markedly. The data below tracks median weekly rent for 3-bedroom stand-alone houses. Users can view either the median value by LGA, or each LGA indexed to September 2010 (showing relative rent growth before and after that point). The latest release from the NSW Govt Rent and Sales Report extends to the June quarter of 2026. Across the Newcastle SSD (Cessnock, Lake Macquarie, Maitland, Newcastle and Port Stephens), the median rent for a three-bedroom house was $670 per week, +0.0% over the quarter and +5.5% over the year. That is the weakest quarterly result since June 2025, when rents were also flat. Quarterly rent growth in this series is volatile, and the annual rate remains above headline inflation.

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Data source: NSW Govt Rent and Sales Report. Data indexed to September 2010.

In the six months to June 2026, rent movements were positive across every Hunter LGA, but the increases were smaller and more tightly clustered than in the previous half-year. The strongest gains were in Muswellbrook (+8.0%) and Port Stephens (+5.7%), followed by Dungog (+3.8%), Mid-Coast (+3.6%) and Upper Hunter Shire (+3.6%). Newcastle rose 2.7% and Cessnock 1.8%, while Singleton (+1.6%), Maitland (+1.6%) and Lake Macquarie (+0.7%) were close to flat. Over the full year, increases were led by Upper Hunter Shire (+12.9%), Dungog (+10.0%), Singleton (+9.6%) and Port Stephens (+9.3%).

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Data source: NSW Govt Rent and Sales Report

Median price-to-rent indicator

The median price-to-rent indicator has continued to edge higher. It divides the median non-strata sale price by the median annual rent for a three-bedroom house, so that both sides refer to comparable stock. Measured to the same quarter, the March quarter 2026, Newcastle SSD non-strata prices rose +13.3% over the year against rent growth of 6.3%. A rising ratio indicates that purchase prices are high relative to rents. The peak in prices observed in 2022 is mirrored in the indicator, highlighting that rents did not experience the same surge as prices at that time. Two cautions: the properties sold are not the properties rented, so this is a relationship between two separate medians rather than a gross rental yield on any actual dwelling; and it is calculated on the NSW data cited here, so it supports no comparison with Australia as a whole.

Download the data behind this chart (CSV) Data source: NSW Govt Rent and Sales Report