Buyers galore in boom time for Tasmanian housing market

IF you have a property on the market, REIT boss Tony Collidge has some great news for you.

REIT president Tony Collidge says anything under $300,000 at the moment is really saleable.

TASMANIA has “well and truly” become a sellers market, says REIT boss Tony Collidge.

Following on from two solid quarters, the property market’s September quarter results — released yesterday by the Real Estate Institute of Tasmania — showed a slight decline in the number of sales despite a critical shortage of property listings.

The dip in sales was attributed to a “very slow July”, a month where Mr Collidge noted the Federal election had created uncertainty.

But the past two month had been really strong, he said.

“There is an increasing number of investors trying to get into the market but they will be fighting with first home buyers for properties and that will put pressure on the lower end of the market,” he said.

“Anything under $300,000 at the moment is really saleable.”

First homeowner Mikayla Hall outside her home in Arunta Crescent, Chigwell, in Hobart’s northern suburbs, late last month. Picture: MATT THOMPSON

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The median price for Greater Hobart houses has increased annually by 7.8 per cent to $385,000 and the time it takes to sell in Hobart has decreased sharply.

Mr Collidge called Launceston the “investor capital of Tasmania”.

“Increased investor activity in the area has seen more sales in the lower price ranges and this has been largely responsible for a decreasing in Launceston’s median price,” he said.

Launceston’s average days on market has also dropped from 67 days to 57.

During the quarter agents sold primarily to Tasmanians with only five properties sold to overseas buyers and the number of interstate buyers reached 21 per cent of sales.

Mr Collidge said there was strong and growing demand for property in the state with rental properties experiencing very low vacancy rates and excellent rates of return.

Originally published as Buyers galore in boom time for Tasmanian housing market