Hunter Valley Property Market Update 2nd Half of 2021

In Q2 2021, Hunter Valley recorded a median house price of $597,500, and a median unit price of $430,000. This represents annual (Q2 2020 – Q2 2021) median price growth of 27.1% for houses and 32.3% for units. Between Q2 2020 – Q2 2021 total sales in both markets increased, by 61.5% for houses (to 273 sales) and by 18.5% for units (to 32 sales). Growth in both median price and number of sales is a clear indication of real returns in capital investment and increased consumer confidence. This would be encouraging to vendors who are looking to sell as demand is exceeding supply levels.

Average vendor discounts between Q2 2020 and Q2 2021 have swung to premium of +0.7% for houses and tightened to -2.4% for units. Hunter Valley offers unique opportunities, as unit sellers can achieve a final sale price closer to their first listed price, yet buyers can still benefit from a discount. Now is the time to transact.

In June 2021, house rental yields in the Hunter Region were recorded at 3.8%. In the 12 months to Q2 2021, the median house rental price increased to reach $480 per week, while average days on the market declined by -16.7% (to 15 days). Overall, this indicates that the Hunter Region has remained a strong rental market throughout COVID-19.

3-bedroom houses have provided investors with +11.4% rental growth annually, with a median rent of $440 per week.

Also in June 2021, the Hunter Region recorded a vacancy rate of 0.7%, well below that of Sydney Metro (2.8%) but slightly above Maitland LGA’s very low rate (0.4%). Current vacancy rates in the Hunter Region are among the lowest in the past three years and have remained well below the Real Estate Institute of Australia’s healthy benchmark of 3.0%, even with COVID-19. There is strong rental demand, thus investors can be confident of a conducive investment environment.