Consistent interest rate hikes have resulted in a decrease in demand from potential buyers compared to the previous two years. However, some suburbs are defying the trend and attracting more interest.
Megan Lieu, Economic Analyst at REA Group
Updated 15 Feb 2023, 3:09pm
First published 15 Feb 2023, 12:41pm
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The recent Property Market Outlook Report released by PropTrack shows that there was a 2.5% decline in national potential buyers per listing from December 2021 to December 2022.
The effects were more pronounced in regional areas where there were 9.9% fewer potential buyers per listing compared to a year prior.
Though capital city areas have experienced year-on-year growth in potential buyers per listing, numbers remain lower than their peak in January 2021.
The increased cost of servicing a mortgage has weakened demand from those looking to buy, but some areas are still seeing strong growth in demand.
Homes in Perth, Regional WA, Adelaide and Regional SA all experienced double digit annual growth in potential buyers per listing from December 2021 to December 2022.
Suburbs in Adelaide – North saw strong growth in potential buyers per listing. Picture: Getty
Regional Queensland also saw positive growth in the number of potential buyers.
More recent data from January shows that this is also reflected at a suburb level – for both houses and units.
Seven of the top potential buyer growth suburbs for houses were in one of the aforementioned regions.
Hillier and Evanston South situated in North Adelaide and Emu Bay in Regional SA saw over 230% growth in potential buyers per listing in January 2023 compared to January 2022.
Houses listed in Bushmead in Perth and Goondi Hill near Cairns also became more popular among highly engaged buyers.
For units, eight of the top 10 suburbs where listings grew most in popularity among prospective buyers were located in regions that experienced positive growth in potential buyers per listing.
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Potential buyers per listing grew by an enormous 267% and 202% in Broadwater, Regional WA and Hope Valley, North Adelaide, respectively.
Listed units in Maleny and Frenchville in regional Queensland were also sought out 160% more by highly engaged buyers than a year prior.
These figures show that there has been been a shift in where buyers are looking compared to late 2021 and early 2022 when regional New South Wales, regional Victoria, Queensland and Tasmania were popular and seeing record price growth.
More insights from the expert team at PropTrack:
- Putting Australia’s property price falls into perspective
- Why recent homebuyers will find it hard to refinance
- The features buyers and renters are looking for in a property in 2023
At a time when servicing a mortgage is becoming more expensive, it looks like potential buyers are looking more seriously at South Australia, Western Australia and pockets within Queensland where home prices are cheaper than the national median.
With interest rates set to increase further, we anticipate that homes will remain popular in our more affordable states.