Regions top affordability in Commonwealth Bank/RP Data Home Buyers Index

The latest Commonwealth Bank/RP Data Home Buyers Index (HBI) suggests the national property market conditions have moved to a buyer's market in March 2014 against the balanced market in December 2013.

But the most affordable localities remain regional areas as no capital cities made the top 10 buyer's markets. There are three capital cities, Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra, in the top seller's markets.

The top five best buyer's markets in Australia:

• Wide Bay-Burnett, Qld;
• Mersey-Lyell, Tas;
• Far West, NSW;
• West Moreton, Qld;
• Central, WA.

The top five best seller's markets in Australia:

• Central Highlands, Vic;
• Sydney, NSW;
• Melbourne, Vic;
• Canberra, ACT;
• Loddon, Vic.

Queensland’s Wide Bay region has regularly recorded the largest proportion of loss making resales, with 30.6% of all March 2014 quarter re-sales transacting at a price lower than what the home was purchased.

The weakness in these two regions is mostly reflective of the conditions across the lifestyle markets where the correction in home values has been more significant, Tim Lawless, national research director at RP Data, has previously advised.

"Prospective home buyers should consider the dramatically different conditions between metropolitan and regional areas," says Clive van Horen, general manager - home loans, Commonwealth Bank.

"The latest HBI shows while the metropolitan areas of Queensland and Tasmania provide good opportunities to negotiate on the sale price of a property, home buyers in the south eastern states should be cautious with their budgets and ensure they don't pay more than the true-market value when purchasing a property," he says.

He stressed the importance of all home buyers comprehensively researching the market to understand the conditions in their area and state. 

The latest HBI report noted mixed market conditions across the states and territories.

Individual state and territory market conditions on the next page. Please click below.

State/Territory: Market Conditions:

• New South Wales
  
  Balanced market - conditions stayed virtually unchanged in March 2014 as New South Wales remains a balanced market, while the Sydney market continues to strongly favour sellers.
  
  
• Victoria
  
  Balanced market - conditions in Melbourne have shifted slightly in favour of sellers in March 2014, however, conditions across the rest of the state are more balanced between buyers and sellers.
  
  
• Queensland
  
  Buyer's market - buyers still firmly have the upper hand in Queensland with Brisbane offering solid opportunities with the coastal region of Wide Bay Burnett, becoming the top buyer's market in the country in March 2014.
  
  
• South Australia
  
  Balanced market - state and capital city market conditions continue to be balanced in March 2014, with Adelaide showing a fairly equal level of power between both buyers and sellers.
  
  
• Western Australia
  
  Balanced market - while conditions in Western Australia shifted from a buyer's market in December 2013 to a balanced market in March 2014, the Perth housing market continues to remain balanced.
  
  
• Tasmania
  
  Extreme buyer's market - conditions remain unchanged in March 2014, with the state continuing to be more favourable to buyers than any other state or territory.
  
  
• Northern Territory
  
  Buyer's market - although market conditions were balanced in December 2013, in March 2014 the property market moved in favour of buyers.
  
  
• Australian Capital Territory
  
  Seller's market - with the state capital Canberra remaining one of the top five seller's markets in the country, conditions shifted from a balanced market in December 2013 to favour sellers in March 2014.

Between December 2013 and March 2014, market conditions have remained consistent across the capital cities with the exception of Canberra, which has surprisingly moved from a balanced market to a seller's market.

The Central Highlands in Victoria also moved from the fourth best seller's market previously to the top seller's market in March 2014.

The index suggests the best buying opportunities are in regional areas of Tasmania and Queensland.

"By and large the best opportunities for home buyers are in regional areas, with particularly favourable conditions in areas outside of the metropolitan hubs of Queensland, Tasmania, South Australia and West Australia," said Lawless.

Image of Bundaberg courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.