Sydney house prices up 6.1% over 2012 but little growth in the western suburbs: REINSW
Sydney median house prices rose strongly in the final three months of 2012 to end the year 6.1% higher, but with little price gain in the Western Sydney mortgage belt, according to the latest report from the Real Estate Institute of NSW (REINSW).
House prices rose 4.2% over the final three months of the year to finish the year at $594,000.
The report indicates that the Sydney market remains highly fragmented with no price growth recorded in the inner city, where the median was unchanged at $1.05 million.
House prices in the outer suburbs (more than 25 kilometres from the Sydney CBD), which accounted for 65% of the 40,000 sales recorded for the year, rose 4.4% to a median of $470,000.
Sydney house prices over 2012 by suburban zone
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Suburbs in Sydney’s outer west growth corridor delivered mixed results for home-owners and investors, but did register the strongest sales activity over the year.
Castle Hill, 31 kilometres northwest of the Sydney CBD, recorded 504 sales over the year - the highest number of sales for any Sydney suburb - but house prices rose just 1.9% over the year to a median price of $765,000.
Blacktown in Sydney’s outer west recorded 468 sales over the year, the second highest number of sales, but house prices rose only 2.6% to a median of $390,000.
Baulkham Hills recorded 276 sales for the year, but prices rose only 1.6% to a median of $630,000.
Liverpool house prices were unchanged over the year with a median of $405,000 with 100 sales recorded.
Bucking the trend of modest price rises, house prices in Auburn rose 6.8% over the year to a median of $512,500 from 188 sales.
The prestige end of the market continued to struggle with prices down 1.5% for houses priced in the 95th percentile at $1.629 million.
REINSW CEO Tim McKibbin said the overall results indicated a marked improvement in sentiment.
“With confidence returning and stimulus in the form of interest rate reductions of 125 basis points in 2012, I believe that the green shoots of improvement are evident and a platform for a far brighter future in 2013 has been constructed.
“In recent years Australia has been unduly influenced by overseas markets, which have not been performing very well. The reality is that many of those markets have little impact on the Australian economy at all.
“Over the last six months, Australians have realised that our economy and our trading partners are reasonably robust. The confidence that has come from that realisation has begun to surface and is evident through an improvement in the share market.
“We have also seen an improvement in property prices and the NSW government announced that employment rates are also improving.
“Property prices are now returning to more traditional levels and we will start to see vendors coming into the market more strongly over the next 12 months. We should also see transaction levels increase, particularly in the more affordable areas of the market,” he says.