Lake Macquarie Property Market Update 1st Half 2023
In Q1 2023, Lake Macquarie recorded a median house price of $970,000, and a median unit price of $672,000. This represents annual (Q1 2022 – Q1 2023) median price softening of -3.0% for houses and 9.3% price growth for units. That said, on a quarterly basis (Q4 2022 – Q1 2023) median house price grew by 5.1%. This suggests cash rate hikes did translate into the market; however, consumer confidence have returned. Sales did decline in the past 12 months, by -18.8% (house) and -4.5% (units), thus an undersupply is evident. For those looking for a more affordable market, especially houses, time is of the essence.
Average vendor discounts between Q1 2022 and Q1 2023 have swung to a discount of -3.4% (from 1.2%). Units saw a widening, to a larger discount of -3.2. Lake Macquarie market conditions favour buyers, as vendors are willing to accept below the initial listing price. This is a consistent trend in the past 3 quarters, that said Q1 2023 house discount was less than Q3 2022 and Q4 2022, thus prices are normalising.
House rental yields in Lake Macquarie were recorded at 3.9% in March 2023, slightly above Sydney Metro (2.9%). In the 12 months to Q1 2023 the median house rental price remained stable, at $650 per week, alongside an increase in the number of houses rented (to 153 rentals). Average days to let remained low at 18 days due to a lack of supply. There is a healthy level of rental demand in Lake Macquarie, which is a more affordable market than Sydney Metro.
4+ bedroom houses have provided investors with +7.7% rental growth annually, with a median rent of $700 per week.
Lake Macquarie (Postcode 2282) recorded a vacancy rate of 1.1% in March 2023, which is below Sydney Metro’s 1.3% average. The spike in early 2023 can be attributed to more investors capitalising on a tight rental market. Yet it is still below the Real Estate Institute of Australia’s healthy benchmark of 3.0%. Thus, a conducive investment environment, even if confidence has returned to the market and property prices are normalising in the past quarter (Q4 2022 – Q1 2023).
