The 20 Australian suburbs ‘heating up’ this winter

Within the report, Well Home Loans has included markets that show the strongest indication of inventory and days on the market decreasing as well as an increasing median asking price over the previous three months.

Of the 20 markets listed, nine are metropolitan locations, while the other 11 are regional areas. The list encompasses markets in seven states and territories and predominately features housing markets, with the exception of three predominantly unit markets.

Inner south-eastern Adelaide suburb Glenunga, ranked 14^th in the report, is listed as having the highest median asking price, $1.4 million, of all housing markets named, whereas the $320,000 median asking price in the Hobart suburb of Gagebrook is the lowest asking price among all ranked housing markets.

Regarding the listed unit markets, the median asking price of $691,200 for units in the south-western Sydney suburb of Smithfield is the highest median price of all the unit markets. Moreover, Cranbourne North in Melbourne is the market with the lowest median unit asking price, at just $490,000. 

Between January 2022 and April 2022, the period that the report’s data covers, the south-western Brisbane suburb of Corinda recorded the largest growth in median asking price, at 17.9 per cent.

Rylstone, in the NSW region of Lithgow, performed best of all 20 reported suburbs when it came to decreasing the number of days houses spent on the market: from 68 days on market in January 2022 to 40 days by April – a 41.2 per cent drop.  

The report detailed Smithfield as the best-performing suburb among the three unit markets listed in the report. The average days on market for a unit in Smithfield decreased by 53.1 per cent from 96 days in January 2022 to 45 days in April. Furthermore, the median unit price in Smithfield increased by 8 per cent from $640,000 to $691,200 over the same period.

Well Home Loans chief executive Scott Spencer said that while property markets nationwide have begun to cool, the report has indicated the potential for investment in strong-performing markets.

“Inventory levels and days on market have fallen in all 20 locations over the three months to April, often from already low levels, which shows buying conditions have become harder,” he said. 

“Vendors have noticed, raising their asking prices in all but two of the locations. This is likely to translate to higher selling prices in the second half of the year.

“Real estate is often reported in national terms, but it’s actually very localised. Each suburb has its own unique supply and demand dynamics. This top 20 list shows locations where the balance between supply and demand has been shifting towards vendors.”

Here are the top 20 suburbs and their median asking price: