Tasmanian median house price reaches positive heights

The Real Estate Institute of Tasmania (REIT) today released its December Quarter Property
Report – which highlights real estate trends for the quarter – revealing an increase in house sales
and the median house prices for the quarter.

REIT President Tony Collidge said it was encouraging to see a positive close to the year.

“The median house price for Tasmania saw a 4.5 per cent increase for the quarter to sit at
$315,000, which is the highest median house price recorded since December 2010 when the
state’s median house price peaked at $320,000,” Mr Collidge said.

“The report also revealed a slight increase in house sales across the state of 3.1 per cent on the
previous quarter.

“Breaking these figures down into regions, we can report that house sales in Hobart increased for
both the quarter and the year, up 11.2 per cent and 2.4 per cent respectively.

“Launceston house sales were also up, recording a 5.1 per cent increase for the quarter, while the
North-West centres bucked the trend, reporting an 11.5 decrease for the quarter.”

Mr Collidge said whilst increases in median house prices were observed across most of the state,
the price distribution of sales differed significantly.

“Hobart saw 31 per cent of all house sales occur below the $300,000 price point, while 59 per
cent occurred between the $300,001 and $600,000 bracket, and 10 per cent of sales came in
above that price, which included 10 sales up to and above $1 million dollars,” he said.

“While in Launceston, 58 per cent of the quarter’s sales were recorded below $300,000, 40 per
cent between $300,001 and $600,000, while only 2 two per cent of all houses sold were above
this price point.

“In contrast, the North West Centres saw 76 per cent of all house sales occur below $300,000 and
the remaining 24 per cent fell into the bracket of $300,001 – $600,000.

“Nine municipalities recorded a median house price higher than that of the state median
($315,000), these included Clarence ($370,000), Hobart ($475,000), Huon Valley ($349,000),
Kentish ($333,500), Kingborough ($395,000), Latrobe ($344,500), Meander Valley ($320,000),
Sorell ($325,000) and the Southern Midlands ($340,000).

“It’s interesting to note the appearance of a wide range of regional areas in Tasmania making it
onto the list of locations with higher median house prices compared to the state average.

“The removal of the First Home Owners Grant on 1 July for purchasers buying established
dwellings, resulted in a marked decrease in house purchases from first home buyers, with sales
from this market segment dropping from 17 per cent, to now sit at 13 per cent of all house sales.

“Second home buyers picked up the 4 per cent loss in first home buyers and continue to hold over
half the market, accounting for 57 per cent of house sales and a median house purchase price of
$330,000.

“The report also revealed that 10 sales occurred to overseas purchases while interstate buyers
remained steady at 15 per cent for the quarter.”

All the details:

http://reit.com.au/
Lucinda Szczypior, Font PR