Areas where apartment prices are going up!

The Australian property market has become a stomach-churning game of swings and roundabouts that’s still seeing prices soar for units in some areas – and dropping steeply in others.

If you fancy an apartment in the NSW south coast idyll of Coffs Harbour, for instance, then you might be in luck, with the median price falling 10.8 per cent over the last quarter. But if your dream escape is to a unit in the Latrobe Valley in Gippsland, it will cost a hefty 14 per cent more than it did three months ago.

Trying to make sense of it all is pretty tricky, says Domain chief of research & economics Dr Nicola Powell. “But mostly, the areas that have had the biggest increases are the regional areas or in the stronger markets of Adelaide and Brisbane,” she said.

“I see affordability being the main driver of the market at the moment. Those regional medians, like in the NSW’s Hawkesbury, are still significantly lower than those in Sydney, and so a lot of buyers are choosing areas that are affordable, so those prices are holding up.

“In both Sydney and Melbourne, houses have tended to see the biggest falls, while units are often holding up better, and we’re seeing premium areas losing more value. Many of the areas that have had the biggest growth we’re now seeing starting to show the biggest price drops. That could be a mix of affordability and more localised circumstances, like more stock coming onto markets.”

In NSW, one of the biggest property price falls, however, were of units in Coffs Harbour on the north coast, down 10.8 per cent to $495,100, units in Sydney’s Leichhardt which went down 9.4 per cent to $992,000 and units in Mosman down 7.7 to $1.2 million.

In Coffs, Yvette Ward of Florent & Mundey said the sea change frenzy had left the market and now those having to borrow money were finding it harder to raise funds. “Interest rate rises have affected them, there’s more supply on the market and the crazy pricing that came from desperation isn’t there anymore.”

Of the inner west suburb of Leichhardt, David Eastway of Hudson McHugh says that it’s often a bellwether suburb. “We have a huge turnover so when the market goes up, we go up with it, and when it goes down, we’re among the first to fall,” he said.

Meanwhile, the biggest price jump in Victoria was for units in the Latrobe Valley in Gippsland. Their median rose 14 per cent to a new median of $285,000. A two-bedroom unit is currently for sale for $388,000 at 2/30 Swallow Grove, Traralgon, by Keith Williams Real Estate’s James Hourigan.

“Regional Australia has gone up everywhere,” he said. “Traralgon is still very cheap compared to many other regional centres and units are attractive because they can be affordable. In addition, rents are going up so much, that some people decide to buy, and go for a unit as they can afford that easier than a house.”

In Queensland, the biggest price hike happened with units in the Bald Hills-Everton area of Greater Brisbane, whose median rose 11.7 per cent to $497,250.

Rohan Dove, of Image Property Northside, is selling a two-bedroom unit at 3/21 Grasspan Street, Zillmere, for offers over $350,000, and says the area is immensely attractive. “It’s so affordable and it’s close to the city, just 20 minutes to the CBD,” he said. “For $350,000 or $400,000, you can still get something built in 2014 or 2015 and it’s quite upmarket.”

Other big movers upward were units in Beenleigh, in the city of Logan, up 10.7 per cent, and units in Hervey Bay, on the Fraser Coast, three and a half hours’ north of Brisbane, which rose by 10.5 per cent.

In South Australia, the biggest median price rise were units on Kangaroo Island up 12.5 per cent to $315,000, and the biggest median price fall were units in Adelaide’s Unley down 9.6 per cent to $447,699.

In Tasmania, the biggest median price fall were units in inner Hobart down 5.1 per cent to $665,000, while in Western Australia, the biggest median price rise was for units in Wanneroo, Perth, up 10.9 per cent to $355,000. Conversely, the biggest median price fall was also for units, this time in Cottesloe, Perth, down 6.9 per cent to $475,000.    

Finally, in the Northern Territory, the biggest median price rise was for units in Palmerston, up 5.0 per cent to $315,000.