Best-performing regional markets
Investors seeking affordable property can look to regional suburbs, with a new report revealing the country’s highest-performing markets.
The quarterly Regional Market Update from CoreLogic RP Data looked at some of Australia’s larger regions highlighting the sales and rental figures for the past 12 months.
The Richmond – Tweed region in NSW leads the way in rental rates from February 2015 to February 2016, with houses rising 10.0 per cent to $440 while units climbed 8.6 per cent to $380.
Across the Illawarra region in NSW, the weekly rent for houses increased by 4.7 per cent to $450 while units rose 4.1 per cent to $380.
In NSW’s Newcastle and Lake Macquarie region, houses rose 1.3 per cent to $400 and units remained unchanged at $370.
The Gold Coast region was Queensland’s top performer, as houses jumped 4.2 per cent to $500 and units climbed 5.4 per cent to $390.
In Queensland’s Sunshine Coast, houses rose 2.2 per cent to $460 and units jumped 4.2 per cent to $375.
Across Townsville in Queensland, houses fell 5.7 per cent to $330 while units decreased by 1.7 per cent to $295.
In Queensland’s Wide Bay, houses remained unchanged at $290 and units rose 1.8 per cent to $280.
Houses in Queensland’s Cairns region remained steady at $380 while units climbed 3.6 per cent $290.
Latrobe – Gippsland was Victoria’s best-performing region with houses rising 3.8 per cent to $270 while units jumped 4.5 per cent to $230.
In Victoria’s Geelong region, houses climbed 1.5 per cent to $335 and units rose 1.8 per cent to $285.
In Western Australia’s Bunbury region, houses remained unchanged at $360 while units fell 5.7 per cent to $330.
Cameron Kusher, research analyst with CoreLogic said Illawarra’s strong performance was largely driven by surging property prices in Sydney, which has driven many buyers and investors from the city.
“With mortgage rates at their lowest levels in 53 years and tipped to drop even further, we’re likely to see housing purchases popular across larger coastal regional markets throughout 2016,” he said.