The top 10 NSW suburbs for annual price growth have been revealed, half of which are located within the Harbour City.
New figures released by CoreLogic have named the regional suburb of Henty as NSW’s number one for house price growth in the 12 months to 31 March 2016, having experienced growth of 50 per cent based on a median house price of $180,000.
Kempsey took second place, experiencing 48.57 per cent growth based on a median house price of $240,000.
The first capital city suburb to make the list was Sylvania Waters, located in Sydney’s south. The suburb saw 47.47 per cent growth based on a median house price of $2,125,000.
The fourth and fifth suburbs on the list are both in the coastal city of Wollongong. Figtree grew 46.77 per cent ($635,000), and Wombarra 46.76 ($1,269,500).
Southern Sydney suburb Burraneer saw 44.94 per cent growth ($2,362,500), while central coast suburb Chittaway Point recorded 44.85 per cent growth ($717,000).
Three Sydney suburbs rounded out the top 10, with Fairlight recording 44.67 per cent growth, Kirribilli 44.48 per cent, and North Strathfield 44.37.
Sydney buyer’s agent Robert Skeen of Skeen Property Buyers believes the reason these suburbs have experienced price growth is due to the scarcity of house listings on the market in these areas.
“Supply and demand in those areas, coupled with the low interest rates and population growth – [those have] probably been the main drivers for huge capital gains in those areas,” he said.
“I had a look at Kirribilli on PriceFinder, and it had six house sales for the whole of 2015, so very low supply.
“People are holding on there because they like the area. It just goes to show that there is huge demand, but very limited supply, and you probably find that across all of the suburbs on the list.”
However, Mr Skeen said the significant level of growth isn’t the right reason for investors to start targeting these areas.
“I wouldn’t recommend Fairlight or Kirribilli as an investment suburb for clients at the moment.
“The reason being, you’re dealing with people who are owner-occupiers and when it comes to working out the yields, it just doesn’t stack up unfortunately.”
