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WA’s regional housing market is once again outperforming its capital city counterpart, leading the way in value growth, rents and rental yields.
The latest CoreLogic Regional Market Update found while the pace of growth has slowed since earlier in the year, WA and Queensland regions continued to dominate the top-performing lists, taking out the top eight spots for quarterly value growth areas.
CoreLogic Australia economist Kaytlin Ezzy said Geraldton recorded the strongest annual increase with dwelling values up 28.7 per cent over the year to October, adding more than $100,000 to the median value.
She said the lifestyle appeal, relative affordability and favourable conditions for investors were driving buyer confidence in these regions.
“Regions like Mackay, Geraldton and Townsville are seeing exceptional growth, driven by affordability advantages compared to our major cities, as well as lifestyle appeal,” she said.
“This will have contributed to the strong demand but even with the impressive growth, for those with the capacity to service a mortgage, they still remain attainable with medians less than $600,000.”
Conversely, across Australia’s largest 50 non-capital city Significant Urban Areas, seven out of eight Victorian and 10 out of 21 NSW areas saw values fall over the three months to October.
KPMG regional economist Terry Rawnsley said WA’s economy was running hot and drawing more people to the state.
He said when homebuyers were priced out of the Perth housing market they moved further into the regions.