Humpty Doo, home of the Big Boxing Crocodile, among eclectic mix of 25 post-GFC hotspot kings
Locations as diverse as inner-Sydney’s Leichhardt, the Northern Territory’s Humpty Doo, home to the Big Boxing Crocodile, and well-to-do Victorian country towns like Kyenton head an exclusive list of just 25 suburbs that have managed average annual price growth of at least 10% since 2009, the end of the GFC.
The 25 suburbs are culled from the Smart Investor magazine’s top 601 suburbs list and include only those that also managed median dwelling growth of at least 10% growth during 2011.
The hotspot list is based on those suburbs where dwelling prices appreciated the greatest over the 12 months to December 2011.
The list is made up of nine suburbs in Sydney, nine locations in Victoria, three in the Northern Territory, two mining towns in Queensland (Moranbah and Blackwater) and one mining town each in South Australia (Ceduna) and Western Australia (South Hedland).
It includes the curious-sounding Humpty Doo, a small Northern Territory town that is home to the eight-metre-high Big Boxing Crocodile and perhaps less well known as housing hotspot.
Humpty Doo house prices have risen by 24.8% on average annually over the past three years, assisted by its close proximity (40 kilometres) to resource boom beneficiary Darwin. However, Humpty Doo is also on RP Data's list of the slowest-selling localities in the Northern Territory.
The standout performer in the past year is also in the Northern Territory – Tennant Creek, where median house prices increased by 24% over 2011 to a median of $230,000 and have risen by an average of 20.3% annually over the past three years.
The latest figures from RP Data show Tennant Creek house prices up 34.4% over the past 12 months with a median weekly rent of $357 and a median of $215,000 equating to a yield of around 8.6%.
Tennant Creek is one of two 2012 mining hotspots picked by Hotspotting.com.au’s Terry Ryder because of its “cattle properties, tourist attractions and mining sites”. Hotspotting.com.au forecasts annual long-term capital growth of 14% in Tennant Creek.
In Sydney, the inner-west suburb of Leichhardt is the standout performer, while the list is also notable for the inclusion of previously unfashionable locations such as the outlying suburb of Cabramatta, famous for its Vietnamese food and cheap Asian shops.
The Victoria list is notable for its lack of any Melbourne suburbs and inclusion of country towns along the Macedon Ranges route to Bendigo such as Hillside, Kyenton and Gisborne. The Victoria list also includes the Bendigo suburb of Strathdale and the Ballarat suburb of Soldiers Hill.
NSW
| Median price | 12 month growth in median price to Dec 2011 | Average annual growth over three years to Dec 2011 |
Leichhardt units | $617,500 | 22.3% | 16.6% |
Canley Vale | $443,000 | 16.6% | 10.3% |
Hillsdale units | $413,750 | 14.9% | 12.3% |
Cabramatta units | $258,000 | 12.1% | 14.1% |
Summer Hill units | $499,000 | 10.6% | 11.7% |
Ashfield units | $478,000 | 10.4% | 11.5% |
Condell Park houses | $536,250 | 10.4% | 10.3% |
Belfield houses | $700,500 | 10.4% | 10.8% |
Paddington units | $600,000 | 10.1% | 10% |
Victoria
| Median house price | 12 month growth in median price | Average annual growth over three years |
McCrae houses | $632,000 | 19.2% | 10.6% |
Drysdale houses | $400,000 | 15.9% | 13.3% |
Kyneton houses | $380,000 | 12.8% | 15% |
White Hills houses | $380,000 | 12.8% | 15% |
Portarlington houses | $415,000 | 10.3% | 11.4% |
Castlemaine houses | $325,000 | 10.2% | 9.9% |
Gisborne houses | $450,000 | 9.8% | 11.2% |
Strathdale houses | $360,000 | 9.7% | 12.2% |
Soldiers Hill houses | $285,000 | 9.6% | 12.2% |
NT
| Median house price | 12 month growth in median price | Average annual growth over three years |
Tenant Creek houses | $230,000 | 24.3% | 20.9% |
Roseberry units | $433,500 | 11.2% | 10.1% |
Humpty Doo houses | $525,000 | 8.8% | 24.8% |
Queensland
| Median house price | 12 month growth in median price | Average annual growth over three years |
Moranbah houses | $615,000 | 25%+ | 16.9% |
Blackwater houses | $365,000 | 16.7% | 10.6% |
South Australia
| Median house price | 12 month growth in median price | Average annual growth over three years |
Ceduna houses | $265,000 | 12.8% | 16.5% |
Western Australia
| Median house price | 12 month growth in median price | Average annual growth over three years |
South Hedland | $750,000 | 7.9% | 13.7% |
