New research from a national property market research firm has revealed 40 affordable locations where properties are selling faster, leading to price-increase pressures.

Propertyology analysed annual days-on-market (DOM) and sales volume data for all 550 city councils across Australia’s eight states and territories.

“There are locations in every state where buyer activity is increasing and properties are selling faster,” said Simon Pressley, head of property market research at Propertyology. “In some cases, this activity has already created price growth, and in others, it’s only a matter of time.”

The fastest-selling area is Clarence in Tasmania, with an average selling period of just 10 days, a 60% reduction in DOM compared to the same period last year.

“Growth cycles in Sydney and Melbourne are now a thing of the past. However, the forecast for the rest of Australia is much brighter, and I think the public is increasingly realising this,” Pressley said.

He added that the 60% of Australia’s population that don’t live in Sydney and Melbourne are tired of hearing about a national boom that was really only confined to the two capitals.

“These people can now look forward to growth in their less-reported property markets, which are set to outperform Australia’s two largest cities—at least for the next few years.”

Queensland

Of the five city councils that make up Greater Brisbane, the outer-east municipality of Redland has registered the biggest improvement in selling time—a 37% increase over the last 12 months, down to an average of 38 days.

“Improved buyer activity is occurring in regional Queensland, with data pointing towards a tightening market in Cairns, Hervey Bay, Mackay and Gold Coast,” Pressley said. “We’ve been bullish about Cairns for a while now. The major project pipeline in the tropical wonderland is exciting for employment growth, housing supply is already tight, and we are now seeing a reduction in selling time.”

South Australia

Adelaide Hills, plus middle-ring city councils like Marion, Prospect, West Torrens, and Salisbury, have produced an attractive combination of increased sales volumes and a significant reduction in DOM.   

Western Australia

“With Western Australia’s economy stabilising, some of their regional markets have improved more than Perth,” Pressley said.

Properties are selling more quickly now than they did a year ago in Broome and Busselton, as well as Karratha and Port Hedland in the Pilbara.

Tasmania

“Buoyed by a strong economy, properties in metropolitan-Hobart, already Australia’s hottest property market for the last two years, are selling within seven to 10 days of being listed,” Pressley said.

“Regional Tasmanian markets including Burnie and Devonport have also seen a healthy increase in sales volumes and a significant reduction in days-on-market, a combination that generally leads to price growth.”

Listed here are the 40 tightening markets by state:

Disclaimer: while due care is taken, the viewpoints expressed by interviewees and/or contributors do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Your Investment Property.

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