The suburbs that are still surging in value despite property downturn

The Reserve Bank has hiked interest rates for five consecutive months but some neighbourhoods in the capitals are defying the downturn.

There are some suburbs in the capital cities that, despite all odds, are seeing their properties increase in value amid a nationwide housing downturn.

While many houses and units are losing their worth as the turbocharged property market from last year gives way to cost of living pressures and high interest rates, some lucky local government areas are bucking that trend.

PropTrack data obtained by news.com.au shows that capitals in each state had several areas on an upwards trajectory while the rest of the city languished.

And regional property markets still came out as the ultimate winners. Even though homebuyer interest is dropping off, sea and tree change locations are still growing at a higher rate than big metro areas.

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The Reserve Bank has hiked interest rates for five consecutive months but some neighbourhoods are defying the downturn. Picture: NCA Newswire /Gaye Gerard.

Over in Australia’s biggest state, the NSW central west and the Riverina region are tied as the statistical level areas with the highest growth.

Between August last year to now, those two areas are up 19.73 per cent. The average price tag on a property in the central west is $602,000 while it’s $477,000 in the Riverina.

That was followed by the New England and north west, up by 18.6 per cent, then the Murray in the state’s south at 17.41 per cent.

In Sydney, in the last month alone, the south west — with suburbs including Liverpool, Canterbury, Bankstown grew by 6.99 per cent in 31 days.

The outer south west around the Campbelltown area experienced a 5.82 per cent growth followed by the outer west (such as Blacktown, Mt. Druitt and Penrith) and the Blue Mountains region, up by 5.78 per cent.

The Central Coast, just north of Sydney, also pulled its weight, seeing positive home growth of 3.08 per cent.

Other Sydney suburbs also saw growth, albeit on a smaller level, such as Parramatta (1.08 per cent), the Baulkham Hills and Hawkesbury region (2.72 per cent) and the inner south west (0.61 per cent).

Most Sydney suburbs are worth less than a year ago but areas predominantly on the edge of the city are still hot property. Picture: NCA Newswire/ Gaye Gerard

Victoria followed a similar trend to NSW with the top performing local areas all in the countryside looking at the yearly data.

Shepparton is still up by 16 per cent compared to this time last year while Warrnambool has grown by 15.2 per cent.

The monthly data also wasn’t all bad news for Melburnians.

In Melbourne itself, the city’s south east — with suburbs including Dandenong, Moorabbin, and Box Hill — jumped by 4.39 per cent in the past month.

 That was followed by Melbourne’s west (including Footscray, Keilor Park and Williamstown) at 4.19 per cent.

The city’s north west is also performing strongly compared to the rest of Melbourne, with suburbs like Broadmeadows and Collingwood growing by 3.54 per cent in August.

The Mornington Peninsula was up by 1.12 per cent while Melbourne’s north east grew slightly, at 0.89 per cent.

House prices continue to drop due to rising inflation but some Sydney and Melbourne suburbs are still going strong. Picture: Newscorp- Daily Telegraph / Gaye Gerard

Elsewhere in Australia, other regions have continued growing in the last year.

Brisbane’s Ipswich is still up by 23 per cent in the past 12 months despite the housing downturn.

Logan in Brisbane’s south is also up significantly, at 22 per cent, while Moreton Bay over in the

Wide Bay and Toowoomba are also going strong, increasing by 20 per cent and 17 per cent respectively from August last year to now.

Adelaide’s north and south are still growing, up by 23 and 17 per cent respectively.

Over in Western Australia, the city of Bunbury is topping the charts in the state because of its 11.79 per cent increase since this time last year.

Mandurah, just south of Perth, is up 10 per cent since August 2021.

Perth suburbs in the south west, inner city and the north west have also experienced growth, of 9.9 per cent, 9.25 per cent and 7.55 per cent respectively.

Other areas caught up in the downturn

However, it’s unclear how long the positive growth will remain after several warnings about the state of Australia’s housing market over the next 18 months.

Earlier this month, global banking firm Goldman Sachs warned that Australia was staring down the barrel of a major housing crash.

The firm predicted a 18 per cent drop for house values — something Westpac and ANZ also separately forecast.

PropTrack data found that Australian house prices have fallen by 2.7 per cent nationally since their peak last year and many rises from early 2022 have disappeared — not in these suburbs.