No recovery: Sydney suburbs where home prices are still falling

Home prices have posted a spectacular and unexpected rebound, but it hasn’t occured everywhere and some suburbs are still seeing massive price falls. See the worst performers

Sydney’s real estate rebound hasn’t hit everywhere, with prices falling in some outer areas and suburbs with a glut of apartments and newly built houses.

Median property price drops in the worst affected areas ranged from $50,000-$200,000 over the past three months, according to exclusive PropTrack data.

Price falls were also reported in a handful of the suburbs that led the pandemic-era housing boom with once-in-a-generation growth that pushed prices beyond the reach of current buyers.

Agents reported “regional regret” was another common factor, with the flow of city workers leaving Sydney for outer suburbs or regional areas drying up as companies called more staff back into the office.

Galston in the northwest was one of the few Sydney areas where prices continued to drop.

Some of the biggest house price falls were recorded in suburbs on the northwest fringe of the Greater Sydney urban area.

This included Kurrajong Heights, Arcadia, Galston, Wilberforce and Pitt Town, where median prices dropped by 4-7 per cent, or about $70,000-$150,000.

The biggest price fall in dollar terms was in Oakville, also in the outer north west, where the median price dropped by $208,000 over the three months.

Suburbs where unit prices fell included North Ryde, with an average drop of about $35,000, north shore suburbs Roseville and Greenwich, with falls of about $50,000, and Chain Valley Bay on the Central Coast, where the average fall was $62,000.

PropTrack economist Angus Moore said price drops were rare across Sydney and most suburbs saw some level of increase over recent months largely because of demand outweigh supply.

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The rare price falls were usually the result of a combination of forces, included stretched housing affordability, shifting lifestyle preferences and a higher supply of available homes, Mr Moore said.

“Outers suburbs are building more housing and that supply can put downward pressure on prices,” he said.

“There is also an element of people returning to areas that are closer to their office and that is weighing down many lifestyle markets that are further out.”

Some suburbs that boomed during the pandemic were also still “adjusting”, Mr Moore added.

“The Central Coast and northern beaches are the best example of this. They were very popular areas during the pandemic and prices went up, but with higher interest rates, now they are some of the worst performing markets.”