House Prices

House prices

Data source: NSW Govt Rent and Sales Report.

The data currently paints a mixed picture on housing prices across the region. The big increases seen post COVID have only started to recede in some LGAs. Hunter median prices fell by 2.2% in the second half of 2022 and another 2% in the first quarter of 2023. Initial data provided for the second and third quarter tend to support a further decline in line with this trend.

The fall contrasts sharply with the region’s yearly growth rate of over 20% per annum in 2021. Falls were led by the Port Stephens LGA, where house prices fell 4.3 per cent over the year, although a rebound is now visible. In Newcastle and Lake Macquarie, prices fell by 5% over the year, with falls of 3% in Newcastle for the last half-year. Singleton saw a drop of 16% in the last quarter of last year, but this is offsetting a spike in mid-2022 resulting in a +6% increase over 12 months.

Among Hunter LGAs, the Upper Hunter showed the largest price increases of 13% in the last 12 months. Muswellbrook is the only LGA that is not yet recording declines in house prices over the preceding 24 months. Prices here have seen growth of 27% in 2011 and 14% in 2022.

Data source: NSW Govt Rent and Sales Report.

Rental prices

Rental prices may have just started to peak, with price rises reflecting those that have been seen in house sales for some time. The acceleration since 2021 is still high, with most Hunter LGAs seeing faster rises than Sydney or NSW.

The data below is for the median weekly rent for 3-bedroom stand-alone houses. Rental prices have tempered some of their increases. For example, the 12 months to March showed increases in the range of 14-26% across LGAs in the region whereas the most recent quarter (to June 2023) has seen decreases in some LGAs to give 12 months to June result of 1-6% increase. Newcastle and Port Stephens have seen the highest rises over this time.

Data source: NSW Govt Rent and Sales Report. Data indexed to start 2009.

According to the last period of data, the Hunter is still experiencing price increases that are outstripping the state and Greater Sydney median for most LGAs. The data below is for the median weekly rent for 3-bedroom stand-alone houses in the 6 months to June 2023. No data point is reported for Dungog and the Upper Hunter Shire due to low volumes of rentals in the last period. Singleton has had the largest increase with a 7% price increase in 6 months.

The NSW median price increase was 0%, whilst Greater Sydney had an increase of around 2% over the 6 months. However, rent increases have abated. In the previous period (to March 2023), median rent increases were 13% in the Upper Hunter, 6% in Port Stephens, 5% in Maitland and 4% in Newcastle and Cessnock.

Data source: NSW Govt Rent and Sales Report.