In the midst of the economic shadow of the health crisis, house values across Adelaide tracked at an incline of 0.4% in April as per CoreLogic’s Home Value Index. In the week ending 17th May, there was a further 0.1% rise.
REISA’s report for the March quarter only cements the capital’s capacity to reel-in growth during a time of broader economic disturbance.
President of REISA, Brett Roenfeldt says in a media address, “It is great news that the median price recorded this quarter is still the second highest median price ever. While this quarter only partially captured some of the effects of COVID-19, it is nevertheless, a terrific result.”
While the number of houses that were settled in Adelaide in the March quarter fell short of that of the previous quarter, and the same was across the state, both of these figures were “significantly up from the same quarter last year”, Roenfeldt notes.
Values in Adelaide hold as new activity dwindles
Unemployment across the state in March hit 6.2% but the most recent data reveals that values have not slid, according to Herron Todd White’s residential report for May. It’s also stated that a clearance rate of around 30% remains on par with the same time of the previous year.
However, there is a significantly lower number of new properties being debuted on the market – “down nearly 40% on the same time last year,” Herron Todd White’s report notes.
CoreLogic data for the week ending 17th May reflects this trend; reporting that while Adelaide’s clearance rate surpassed that of the same time last year, up by 20.7%, total properties at auction dropped from 83 to 10.
Overall, the state is one of the most consistent property markets in Australia, given the steady demand, solid local economy, and housing affordability, adds Emma Slape, CEO of Turner Real Estate.
“We are seeing more and more young interstate people buying in Adelaide to get their foot into the property market — while they continue to rent interstate,” she says.
Adelaide’s rental market is also in good shape and would be able to absorb the extra rental stock coming into the market. In fact, even with the increase in the number of housing stock in April, Adelaide still has one of the lowest vacancy rates amongst all capital cities at 1.2%, according to SQM Research.
Slape says the housing market of South Australia, in general, is not vulnerable to extreme price fluctuations.
“This will help hold our prices a little firmer. There is still activity in both the rental and sales market, and this is expected to continue along, just at a slower pace than we have seen previously. In the next few years, we may not see strong price growth, but more so stability in pricing,” she says.
