Should investors ignore Sydney’s growth and invest regionally?

The growth in the harbour city was widespread, with the numbers showing that every single region of Sydney grew in the last 12 months. 

The report noted that this marks the end of deteriorating prices, with values growing annually for the first time in two years.

The city’s median house price regained another $73,000 or 6.8 per cent to $1,142,212, while median unit prices grew by 3 per cent to reach $735,387 or a $21,197 increase.

The inner west recorded the strongest annual growth, up 15.4 per cent, with the median house price now $1,690,000.

Despite signs of strong growth in Sydney, head of research at Propertyology Simon Pressley believes property investors can achieve stronger returns if they leave the capital cities.

“City-slickers falsely believe that Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane property markets will always be superior to smaller locations because of their larger population masses,” Mr Pressley said.

Using the example of Warragul Victoria, Mr Pressley showed that investors could purchase a median house price for $450,000, which has grown by 7.9 per cent annually for the last 20 years.

Conversely, a basic apartment in Sydney costs $690,000 and its annual growth rate is more modest at 5.5 per cent over the same time period.

Mr Pressley’s analysis also showed that investing regionally carries similar risks to investing in larger cities, despite the perception. 

“Over the past 20 years, the individual calendar year’s instance that the median house price declined in big cities like Sydney (five times) and Perth (six times) is more than smaller locations such as Warrnambool, Mount Gambier, Warwick, Narrabri, Esperance and Alice Springs,” Mr Pressley concluded.