Australian Property News
Affordability makes Hobart tops for growth
Posted on Wednesday, February 03 2010 at 3:12 PM
Figures out today that show property in Hobart has outperformed its mainland cousins over the past decade might come as a surprise to some property watchers, but not to professionals working in the local market.
Hobart saw the greatest growth in dwelling prices over the past 10 years, racking up an average annual increase of 12.8 per cent, according to RP Data.
Real Estate Institute of Australia deputy president Chris McGregor, who runs First National in Hobart, says the result comes as no surprise to him, as Hobart has performed very strongly since the property boom in 2001.
"We had the big boom between 2001 and 2003, which sort of caught us by surprise, but since then it's been nice and steady," he says.
A lot of the growth has been spurred by the continued affordability of property in Tasmania, particularly in comparison to the mainland capital cities, McGregor says.
Hobart's median house price sits around the $350,000 mark, according to RP Data, which is extremely affordable compared to its nearest mainland neighbour, Melbourne, around $500,000.
McGregor says that same affordability is now attracting investors back to the Tasmanian market.
"What we're noticing is the investors are starting to come back in due to affordability," he says.
Buyers agent Rob Zubin from My Property Hunter says Hobart is sometimes the forgotten cousin of the mainland capitals, but agrees the data is no surprise.
"We don't have the sharp rises and the sharp fall that other capital cities would have but since our huge increase in the period 2001 to 2004 where properties increased about 100 per cent it’s been steady growth," Zubin says.
"These figures aren't any surprise to me whatsoever."
Tasmania's economy has held up well through the global financial crisis, Zubin says, and the property market has remained stable over the period in question.
"Hobart and Launceston in particular have just been quietly there in the background doing steady business as a good investment should."
Perth and Darwin have experienced the equal second best growth rate for dwelling prices over the past 10 years at 12.5 per cent per year, RP Data says.
They're followed by Canberra (11.4 per cent), Adelaide (11.1 per cent), Brisbane (11 per cent), Melbourne (9.7 per cent) and Sydney (6.3 per cent).
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