Upper Hunter Property Market Update 1st Half 2023
In Q4 2022, Upper Hunter recorded a median house price of $491,000 and a median unit price of $340,000. This represents annual (Q4 2021 – Q4 2022) median price growth of 15.5% for houses and 30.3% for unit. That said on a quarter-by-quarter (Q3-Q4 2022) basis median price grew at a slower rate of 2.6% (houses) and 5.4% (units). This reflects successive cash rate increases translating into the market. The Upper Hunter market remains undersupplied, with total sales declining by -41.7% (houses) and -54.4% (units) over the past 12 months. There are new and unique opportunities for buyers and sellers.
Average vendor discounts between Q4 2021 and Q4 2022 have swung to a discount of -4.5% for houses. Units’ vendor discount has slightly widened, to a further discount of -1.7% in Q4 2022. Market conditions in Upper Hunter have now shifted to favour buyers, as vendors are willing to accept below the first listing price.
House rental yields in the Upper Hunter were 4.1% in December 2022, higher than Sydney Metro (3.7%). In the 12 months to Q4 2022 median house rental price increased by 9.1% to sit at $480 per week, despite a 2.9% increase (to 140 rentals) in the number of houses rented. This suggests renters are willing to pay higher even without an undersupply in the market. Average days on the market remained low at 21 days for Q4 2022, indicating a strong rental market in the Upper Hunter.
2 bedroom houses have provided investors with +12.7% rental growth annually, achieving a median rent of $372 per week.
Upper Hunter recorded a vacancy rate of 1.3% in December 2022, which is below Sydney Metro’s 1.6% average. Vacancy rates in Upper Hunter saw a slight spike in the late 2022, potentially due to investors responding to higher interest rates. However, it is still below the Real Estate Institute of Australia’s healthy benchmark of 3.0% and pre-COVID-19 level. This suggests a conducive investment environment, especially with slower growth in median house price in the past quarter.
