Adelaide Hills attracts buyers looking for semi-rural serenity and space
The rolling vineyards and picturesque gardens of the Adelaide Hills are attracting a new wave of buyers looking for space and serenity.
The rolling vineyards and picturesque gardens of the Adelaide Hills were once considered some of the city’s best-kept secrets.
The pandemic well and truly brought that to an end, with the region emerging as one of the most sought-after areas for returning expats and local movers and shakers.
From historic estates to modern architectural homes and farming properties with acreage, luxury properties in the Adelaide Hills have captured the attention of city dwellers looking to escape the daily grind of suburban life, after being afforded the flexibility of hybrid working.
And the region is not even far from the conveniences of Adelaide city.
Construction of the Heysen Tunnels on the South Eastern Freeway in the late 1990s made the Hills more accessible from the city, kickstarting a boom in areas like Mount Barker, which has become one of the fastest-growing areas in South Australia – and even the country.
Leafy nearby Adelaide Hills towns such as Stirling, Crafers and Aldgate are now home to a mix of old and new money, while venturing a little further into the region allows buyers to secure more acreage for animals, a farm or simply to enjoy a more laid-back lifestyle.
Dee-Anne Hunt, a lifestyle property specialist from Williams Real Estate, has been living and selling in the Adelaide Hills for more than two decades, and says the pandemic fuelled huge interest from a wave of buyers looking for a new lifestyle while retaining the benefits of living in a “20-minute city”.
“Certainly, during Covid, we’ve never seen a market like that in the 24 years that I’ve been selling; the buyer demand was astounding,” she says. “Interstate buyers and a lot of expats who were buying during that time suddenly realised what a great opportunity we have in Adelaide.
“Everything’s half an hour away – half an hour to the city, half an hour to the beach – so it was just so accessible, but they could also have space and live that lifestyle that they wanted.
“Those who live in the Hills always knew that, but trying to get people to understand it was really quite difficult, where Covid just changed that. All of a sudden, they got it.”
Well-heeled buyers have traditionally been drawn to places like Stirling, Crafers and Aldgate – a 20-minute drive from Adelaide’s CBD – which have all become million-dollar towns following a 50 to 60 per cent increase in house prices during the past five years, according to REA Group’s latest PropTrack figures.
But venture a little deeper and you’ll reach townships like Woodside, Nairne and Lobethal, with its famous Christmas lights display – three villages where house prices are up more than 70 per cent over the past five years.
And in the tourist town of Hahndorf, famous for its German-influenced heritage, prices are up 65 per cent and nearing a $1m median.
But it’s the booming town of Mount Barker where new housing is growing the fastest, with a wave of new developments putting it on track to becoming South Australia’s second largest city in the next few years.
Harris Real Estate property consultant Arabella Hooper says the development of supporting infrastructure and amenities in and around Mount Barker is having a flow-on effect on demand for properties in surrounding areas.
“I think there’s definitely now an upward swing in areas like Mount Barker, as an example, where it is a micro city, and now all the services are there, all the shops are there,” she says.
“There’s brilliant value for money and I think some people are making that bigger shift now.
“Historically they thought you get to Stirling, Aldgate, Crafers, and they’re beautiful, and you’ve still got the city at your fingertips.
“Whereas now I think a lot of people realise that with Mount Barker becoming a micro city, they can go a little further out, and so there’s definitely more of an urban sprawl heading further into the Hills.”
Hunt, whose current listings include expansive estates at Aldgate and Oakbank which are both expected to attract offers in the high-$3m range, agrees buyers are increasingly willing to venture a little further from the city in order to secure larger landholdings in a more rural setting, fuelling demand in areas like Mylor, Echunga, Balhannah and Verdun.
“There’s two types of buyers up here,” Hunt says. “There’s the residential buyer who wants to live in the Hills but still be on a block that is easily manageable.
“And then there’s those who want more of a paddock for a pony or a pet alpaca or a miniature donkey, and have chickens.
“People are stretching out further and realising an extra five minutes in the car gives you a whole lot more, and then you get out to the bigger grazing areas.
“So it’s quite interesting the different pockets we have through the Hills.”
Hooper’s current listings include the historic 5.5ha Hurds Hill landmark at Coromandel Valley, which is expected to attract offers around $3m, and a sprawling 4.3ha estate in Carey Gully, which is likely to fetch up to $2.5m.
She says while the Adelaide Hills luxury market has cooled from the “remarkable” demand during the Covid-19 pandemic, there is still strong interest given the value for money the area offers when compared with markets on the eastern seaboard.
“In some areas values have nearly doubled (since the pandemic), or very close to that, and despite the softening or the normalisation of the market that we’re seeing right now, the numbers are still strong,” Hooper says.
“There’s been a huge uplift.”
“But you can still get much better value for money, certainly if you’re coming back from the eastern seaboard, and it makes a huge difference to a lot of people’s lifestyle coming back here.”
Hunt says the diversity of properties found in the Adelaide Hills makes the region popular with a broad mix of buyers, ranging from executive couples to families and retirees.
“Where the Hills market is quite different, particularly at the luxury end, is that every property is different and has its own special features that appeal to different lifestyle buyers,” she says.
“There’ll be different landholdings, how it captures the sun, the feel when you look out from the back view, how close neighbours are, whether it offers pool, court, vineyard, horse paddocks, vegie gardens – they’re all things that impact the buyer.
“The other thing that interstate buyers appreciate here is we have the four seasons.
“It’s a really nice, healthy way to live.”
