Regional property continues country mile growth

The city to country COVID migration and its ensuing hike in regional property values is continuing to hold sway in 2022 but take heart!

There’s a good chance this growth may settle soon.

CoreLogic’s quarterly Regional Market Update released on Monday confirmed Australia’s 25 largest non-capital city regions were continuing to enjoy extraordinary growth.

Twenty-four of these regions’ houses can boast an annual double-digit growth while 18 regions have experienced gains of over 20%.

And that’s not all.

Australia’s combined regional areas’ median dwelling values trumped that of its capital cities counterpart, skyrocketing 26.1% in the year to January 2022 compared to the latter’s 21.3% figure.

Why are regional properties still outperforming the city?

CoreLogic’s head of research Eliza Owen admitted last year was a highly unusual one when it came to the standard pattern performance between capital cities and regions.

“It’s common for these two markets to roughly perform in line with each other,” she said.

“But what was unique about the end of last year was that this pattern changed.

“Regional price growth instead accelerated toward the end of the year, while capital city dwelling price growth continued to slow.”

Should I still buy or sell a regional property? 

Both regional and suburban property growth has soared in the past two years with residential property prices overall jumping 21.7% in the 12 months to September 2021, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS)’ Residential Property Price Indexes report.

This is the strongest annual growth recorded since this series commenced in 2003.

Escape to the country-ites keen for a budget-priced property should definitely not move to the Southern Highlands and Shoalhaven areas in NSW.

In the country’s highest annual regional house value growth, properties in these regions soared 38.2% in the 12 months to January 2022.

Second in line for extraordinary house value growth is Queensland’s Gold Coast (36.3%) and the Sunshine Coast (35.4%).

However, if you’re thinking of selling up this year, you can count yourself doubly lucky if you’re on the Sunshine Coast, where homes boast the quickest selling time in the country of just 15 days.

Close behind the Sunshine Coast with a median time on the market of only 16 days is Launceston and north-east Tasmania, the Gold Coast and Toowoomba.

What’s next for regional property?

Everything’s not lost with Ms Owen expecting regional growth rates to start slowing early this year.

“The expectation is there will ultimately be few regions that can avoid a downswing over the next few years,” she stated.

“Key drivers for performance in the regions will come down to higher interest rates and affordability constraints, the same headwinds capital city markets are facing.”

However, Ms Owen advised potential country buyers that there could still be some regional property growth this year, particularly if interest rates rise.

She added that the possibility of a return to “normality” could also be a challenge, rather than a great expectation, for the regional property market, as this could result in a refocus on cities.

However, this was unlikely, she said, with Australians now prioritising their current housing needs to align with their desired lifestyle.

What does this mean for my property plans?

Simple: don’t stop believing in them!

This information and statistics are crucial for you to consider but at the same time, don’t give up on your plans to buy, sell or invest in property, regardless of where that property is. Sign up to Listing Loop to get first access to pre-market, off-market and secret property listings.

If you’re concerned about how much you can afford to borrow, check out our mortgage calculator, or if you’re rethinking your loan, you may want to consider refinancing.

We have plenty more great loan advice and tips to give you as well so give us a call today at Lending Loop.