Daily Buzz: Thursday, 14 March

PropertyBuzz, your daily dose of property news.

The housing market is feeling the heat, Townsville targeted for future development, and the surprising reason behind unit price gains in Perth

Welcome to Property Buzz! I’m Juliet Helmke. Today is Thursday, 14 March.

– The Real Estate Institute of Australia reported a rise in the median Australian home price in the December quarter of 2023, with a 1.8 per cent increase across eight capital cities.

– Sydney remained the most expensive city for home buyers, with the median house price at nearly 1.6 million, 59 per cent higher than the national median.

– Darwin offered the lowest prices, with a median house price of $560,000, 44 per cent  lower than the national median.

– Meanwhile, median rent prices also increased over the quarter, with the largest quarterly increase seen in Darwin at 6.8 per cent, and Adelaide having the tightest rental market with a 0.5 per cent vacancy rate.

– Up in North Queensland, Townsville is gearing up to be a hub of Queensland population growth over the next 22 years, with developers proposing plans to deal with the influx of residents.

– Urbex has revealed it is committing to two new masterplanned communities in the Townsville area, which are to be located at Bohle Plains and in the Upper Ross region with more than 1000 homesites slated for the area over the next 15 years.

– The developer said the local property market in Townsville has shown “consistent growth and stability, making it an appealing choice for real estate investment and new buyers entering the market”.

– And in Perth, new data reveals why prices for units are taking off, and it’s something of a paradox.

– The Real Estate Institute of Western Australia  puts the growing interest in units down to the long-term appeal of houses, with only some segments of the unit market experiencing growth, namely villas and townhouses in particular.

– Extra competition in these subsectors can largely be attributed to buyers in search of houses widening their search to include options that offer similar amenities to houses, such as ample outdoor space and an independent feel compared to apartments.

– The median sale price for a villa in Perth rose nearly 11 per cent to $420,000 in the year to February, which is a new peak for the property type.

– Townhouses are also at their peak, having  increased almost 6 per cent over the past year to $592,000, a substantial increase from their low of $500,000 in October 2020. 

That’s Property Buzz for today. 

See you again tomorrow, 15 March, for your daily dose of Property Buzz.”

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