From cool to coal, top suburbs have certain something

Despite distance and not much in common, Melbourne’s St Kilda and Queensland’s dusty Moranbah share one thing.

Sydney’s eastern harbourside suburbs remain the most expensive in the country. Picture: John Appleyard

There might be a lot a distance and not much in common between Melbourne’s St Kilda and outback Queensland’s dusty Moranbah, but the two are the star performing suburbs in Australia’s property recovery.

Inner-city prestige and a touch of TV celebrity gave beachside St Kilda the country’s biggest price growth of 19.6 per cent rise, according to property researcher CoreLogic’s Best of the Best report

But, it was the appearance of runner-up Moranbah (with 19 per cent) and neighbouring seventh place getter Broadsound/Nebo (14.6 per cent) on the list that yet again confirmed that there is always money to be made outside the capital cities.

And the gains came down to a one thing; their proximity to the site of the Adani coal mine which finally won state and federal approval for its long-delayed project to go ahead mid-year.

It is symbolic of a slower recovery for property in the mining regions after the property market crashed as much as 70 per cent in the wake of mining collapse in mid-2014. Stronger commodity prices and the approval of several mines in Queensland through 2019, including the Adani and Olive Downs mines, helped support that improvement.

CoreLogic’s head of research Tim Lawless said the list showed that capital cities, particularly Sydney, still garnered the best capital returns in an up-turn but that there was always big potential elsewhere, depending on local circumstances.

He said the recovery in the second half of the year will continue into 2020 but price growth in Sydney and Melbourne would likely slow from the current “unsustainable levels”.

“It has definitely been a year of two halves. The beginning of the year saw the end of the longest downturn since the 1980s, while the second half of the year will be remembered for the fastest bounceback on record,” Mr Lawless said.

“Premium suburbs are leading but there are also signs of recovery in mining towns.”

The ups and downs did not diminished the allure of Sydney’s exclusive blue-chip suburbs, with the city’s inner suburbs demanding some of the highest median prices and rents in the country.

Downsizers Jonathan Hawley, 54, and Jenny Lamattina, 53, are hoping to take advantage of the growing market when they list their century-old St Kilda manor home in the new year. While surprised by just how strong the growth had been, Ms Lamattina said they had noted stronger market conditions in the latter half of the year. The filming of two seasons of renovation show ‘The Block’ in the area is also believed to have helped spike interest.

Jonathan Hawley and Jenny Lamattina are selling their 1887 Victorian manor home in the trendy inner-Melbourne suburb of St Kilda. Picture: David Geraghty

“I find it quite extraordinary,” Ms Lamattina said. “Is there an influence from The Block? It has put St Kilda at the forefront of minds around Australia, especially after they called it ‘Toorak by the Sea’.”

The home will be listed in January through Sam Hobbs of The Agency - Albert Park for offers of around $4.5m. He said investment and development in the area has created strong conditions through the last quarter of 2019 which should bleed into 2020.

In Sydney, punters are paying an eye-watering median of $6.5m to buy a house in the harbourfront suburb of Darling Point, the most expensive suburb in Australia. Neighbouring Point Piper is commanding the highest prices for apartment, with a median of $2.2m.

Glamorous Melbourne suburb of Toorak was the only location outside of Sydney to make the top ten list, with a median house price of $4.7m.

The report draws on data price point data from November and sales data from September.