The Daily Telegraph reported on April 26 that house prices across Australia are still soaring, with the median price of a home in Australia rising by 8.8% over the past year. However, house price increases vary across states and territories, with Western Australia and Queensland currently the hottest markets.
CoreLogic's latest figures show that in the strongest markets, house prices in Perth and regional WA have risen by 19.8 per cent and 12.2 per cent respectively over the past year. House prices rose by 15.9 per cent in Brisbane and 10.5 per cent in regional Queensland. On the east coast, house prices rose 9.6 per cent in Sydney, 4 per cent in regional NSW and 1.9 per cent in Canberra. Further south, house prices rose 3.2 per cent in Melbourne, 0.7 per cent in regional Victoria, 0.3 per cent in Hobart and 0.4 per cent in regional Tasmania.
(Image source: The Telegraph)
So why are the housing markets in Western Australia and Queensland so strong? Affordability is one of the reasons.
A typical family home in Perth can cost as little as $735,000 and $910,000 in Brisbane, which is much lower than the median home price of $1.415 million in Sydney. Another factor is immigration, not just from overseas, many local Australians are now choosing to move to Western Australia and Queensland.
(Image source: The Telegraph)
According to the latest data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics, in the year ending September 2023, these two states ranked first and second respectively in the number of interstate migrants in Australia.
Of course, housing affordability, as well as the increase in jobs, are the key reasons for the increase in interstate immigration.
During the year, Queensland added a net 32,625 residents and WA added 11,233 residents. Queensland and Western Australia also attract a large number of overseas migrants, although not as much as Sydney and Melbourne, but also more, at 87,954 and 67,629 respectively. Meanwhile, NSW added a net 186433 overseas migrants, but 33,202 left.
Victoria added 161758 overseas migrants and 1,119 left.
In 2023, a record 518,000 overseas migrants poured into Australia, most of them students and temporary workers.
(Image source: The Telegraph)
*East Coast House Price Increases, March 2020-2024*
Sydney, up 25.4% or $231,000
Regional NSW, up 46.9% or $232,000
Melbourne, up 11% or $77,000
In regional Victoria, it rose 33.6% or $143,000
Brisbane, up 55.2% or $291,000
In regional Queensland, it rose by $56.2 or $225,000
Hobart, up 28.3% or $143,000
In the regional Tasmania, it was up 44.6% or $158,000
Canberra, up 31.2% or $200,000