Regional dwelling values outperform capital counterparts: CoreLogic

CoreLogic’s Regional Market Update has revealed that dwelling values across regional Australia rose 2.1 per cent in the three months to April 2024.

This has represented the fastest quarterly growth rate in almost two years, with regional dwelling values outperforming capital city values during this period, which rose by 1.7 per cent.

According to CoreLogic, 19 markets are now at a record high across the country’s 50 largest non-capital city Significant Urban Areas (SUAs).

Regional markets in Western Australia held some of the best-performing markets in the country, with Geraldton recording the largest gains over the three months to April, up by 8.8 per cent.

This was followed by Busselton at 7.7 per cent and Bunbury at 6.4 per cent, which had the largest growth over the past year, up by 20.7 per cent.

CoreLogic economist Kaytlin Ezzy said: “After falling 5.8 per cent between May 2022 and January 2023, regional home values have seen a slower recovery compared to capital city values but have now regained the losses from the downturn to reach a new record high.

“The diversity in economic activity across these parts of regional WA and Queensland including agriculture, tourism, ports and mining would be contributing to the strength of these markets, along with their higher levels of interstate migration, relative affordability and low supply levels.”

Indeed, Queensland made up four of the remaining top 10 SUAs for quarterly growth, while NSW, South Australia, and Tasmania had one market each in the top 10.

Meanwhile, the worst-performing regional markets were located in Victoria and NSW. Both Ballarat and Port Macquarie recorded value declines of 2 per cent over the three months to April.

Ballarat also recorded the weakest annual change, declining by 4.2 per cent.

Ezzy said: “Housing affordability has continued to deteriorate through the start of 2024 for tenants and prospective home buyers alike.

“The outlook for regional housing markets will heavily depend on demographic trends, housing supply, localised economic drivers and the outlook for interest rates.”

CoreLogic’s latest Home Value Index (HVI) data revealed that home values rose by 0.6 per cent overall in the month of April, remaining “on par” with the pace of price gains recorded in February and March.

The price gains recorded in April marked the 15th consecutive month of home value increases, which have risen 11.1 per cent (around $78,000) since the January 2023 trough.

[RELATED: April price gains ‘on par’ with previous months: CoreLogic]

Adrian Suljanovic is a journalist at Broker Daily with more than two years experience reporting on all facets of the third party distribution channel.

Adrian has written for a range of business and finance titles including IFA, Investor Daily and Lawyer’s Weekly before joining the mortgages team in 2022.

He graduated from the University of Wollongong in 2021 gaining a Bachelor of Communication & Media with a major in Digital & Social Media.

E-mail Adrian at: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.