Houses in the suburbs have fared well despite a recession while unit prices near the city have fallen since the start of the pandemic
Homes in the outer suburbs and regional areas across Australia are more likely to go up in value than apartments near the city, property experts say.
Since the start of the coronavirus pandemic in March, houses in the suburbs have fared well despite a recession while unit prices near the city have fallen as the national border closure kept international students out of Australia.
This contrast was stark in Melbourne where properties in the inner-east plunged in value by nine per cent, compared with a slip of just 0.1 per cent in the Mornington Peninsula, CoreLogic data showed.
Melbourne’s broader market dropped by five per cent between March and November.
Brisbane saw a similar, although less dramatic story, with inner-city homes dropping in value by 2.3 per cent in just eight months as property prices in the Moreton Bay area north of the Queensland capital rose by 2.4 per cent.
Sydney’s median house price fell by 3.2 per cent, between May and September before recovering, as regional prices surged to hit new records.
Eliza Owen, CoreLogic’s head of research in Australia, said inner-city areas in Sydney and Melbourne were likely to lose value next year.
Looking forward to 2021, New South Wales dwelling markets are generally expected to remain in upswing, but pockets of the market are at risk of further decline, she said.
Demand is generally shifting from inner-city stock preferred by investors, to detached housing at the periphery of the metropolitan area, and in regional NSW. Pockets of risk remain for inner city Sydney and Melbourne dwelling markets, Owen said.
Over a longer period, houses near good schools are more likely to go up in value.
Brett Warren, the director of Metropole Properties in Brisbane, cited Matusik Property Insights data showing a 34.3 per cent surge in average prices in areas near the ten best schools, compared with a city-wide increase of 20.4 per cent between 2013 and 2018.
