Analysing the 2023 property market by geography reveals stark differences in performance among major cities, regional areas and major areas for upcoming growth.
It reveals cities like Perth, experiencing record-high prices with a 12.76 per cent surge, contrasting with Hobart’s decline of 6.63 per cent.
While Adelaide and Sydney show robust growth, Melbourne lags behind, echoing trends seen in Western Australia, South Australia, and Queensland, marked by a record 10 per cent or more price hike.
Major cities
Perth
Perth was the strongest performing capital city in the past year with prices up 12.76 per cent, marking a record high. With tight rental markets supporting home values, population growth coupled with relative affordability and low stock levels intensified competition.
Hobart
When comparing annual price growth, Hobart remains the weakest performing market, with prices down 6.63 per cent from their March 2022 peak after rising a small 0.03 per cent in November. This comes after several years of outperformance as well as strong growth during the pandemic. Home prices in Hobart are still up 37.93 per cent since March 2020.
Adelaide
Adelaide experienced strong performance with prices up 9.74 per cent. Relative affordability, population growth, tight rentals, low stock levels and strong buyer demand all contributed to a seller’s market.
Darwin
Unlike other capitals, which experienced price rises in November, Darwin experienced a 0.12 per cent decline. However, annual growth for the northernmost capital did see a 1.75 per cent rise over the year.
Melbourne
The price recovery in Melbourne is lagging that of other capitals – apart from Hobart – with November prices climbing 0.04 per cent month on month, bringing prices up 1.39 per cent from their level of a year ago. Prices in Melbourne remain 3.71 per cent below their peak in March 2022. ACT The nation’s capital, Canberra, saw a yearly growth of 0.97 per cent.
Sydney
Sydney home prices have experienced 12 straight months of growth, pushing prices to record highs. In November prices were sitting 8.40 per cent above the levels of the previous year and 1 per cent above the previous February 2022 price peak.
Brisbane
In 2023, Brisbane regained all of its 2022 price falls, climbing in November by 0.2 per cent to reach a new price peak. In November prices climbed 8.85 per cent above the previous year’s and were up 8.91 per cent year to date.
Regional areas
Prices are up 2.76 per cent for regional markets in comparison to the capitals which are up 6.62 per cent in the year to November. During the pandemic, prices in regional areas spiked and home values are still up 49.75 per cent since March 2020, while home prices in the combined capitals are up 32.03 per cent over the same period.
Big growth markets
Record growth with prices rising 10 per cent or more in parts of Western Australia, South Australia and Queensland confirmed those markets as the top-performing areas in the 2023 property market by geography. A combination of factors – including population growth, more affordable housing and very low stock, especially for Perth and its record low listings – helped these markets avoid a downturn in prices.
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