The Hills Shire Council Property Market Update 2nd Half of 2021

In Q2 2021, the Hills Shire Council recorded a median house price of $1,633,000, and a median unit price of $815,000. This represents annual (Q2 2020-Q2 2021) median price growth of 32.2% for houses and 2.6% for units. Between Q2 2020-Q2 2021 total sales increased, by 39.2% for houses (to 802 sales) and by 95.3% for units (to 252 sales). Positive growth in both sales and median price indicates high demand and real returns on capital investment. Now is an ideal opportunity for owner occupiers to benefit, particularly homeowners as planned new stand-alone housing stock supply is low.

Average vendor discounts between Q2 2020 and Q2 2021 have swung to a premium of +1.8% for houses and widened to -4.0% for units. Market conditions in the Hills Shire Council are unique in that house sellers can now benefit from a premium on their initial listed price. However, unit buyers can benefit from a discount.

In June 2021, house rental yields in the Hills Shire Council were recorded at 2.5%. In the 12 months to Q2 2021, the median house rental price increased by 12.1% to reach $650 per week, while average days on the market declined by -18.5% (to 22 days). Overall, this suggests the Hills Shire has remained a strong and resilient rental market throughout COVID-19.

3-bedroom houses have provided investors with +10.0% rental growth annually, with a median rent of $550 per week.

Also in June 2021, the Hills Shire recorded a vacancy rate of 2.5%, below Parramatta Council (4.2%) and Sydney Metro (2.8%). Vacancy rates in the Hills Shire are below the Real Estate Institute of Australia’s healthy benchmark of 3.0%. Most importantly, it has been trending downwards and are at their lowest point in the past 3 years. Outperforming the neighbouring council of Parramatta, investors can be increasingly confident of a conducive investment environment in the Hills Shire.