The CoreLogic December Home Values Index shows house prices continue to rise in Tasmania

Property prices in Tasmania continue to climb with a house in Hobart now costing $200,000 more than a decade ago due to a massive gap between supply and demand. HOW TO GET A FOOT IN THE DOOR >>

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PROPERTY prices in Tasmania continue to climb with a house in Hobart now costing $200,000 more than a decade ago due to a massive gap between supply and demand.

Local real estate agents say people are so keen to get into the market they are offering 10 to 15 per cent above the advertised price to win bidding wars.

CoreLogic’s December Home Value Index shows Hobart’s median house price now sits at $513,552 up 6.1 per cent from December, 2019 and up from $334,000 in 2010.

The annual house price growth in Tasmania’s capital is now the third highest in the nation behind Darwin and Canberra.

But growth is not restricted to Hobart with Launceston and the North West Coast nipping at the capital’s heels as the most buoyant property market.

Real Estate Institute of Tasmania president Mandy Welling said at an open home in Hobart’s northern suburbs last week a house advertised for $365,000 sold for $400,000 as people scrambled to secure the property.

Rebeckah Howard first homebuyer with children Isabel 11 and Glenn 6 at their new home in Herdsmans Cove. Picture: NIKKI DAVIS-JONES

“We have a massive shortage of property for sale – about 5000 homes short of what the demand is,” Ms Welling said.

“And while this shortage remains, property prices will continue to rise.”

She said state and federal building grants were allowing some first home builders to break into the market but there was also a shortage of land to subdivide in Tasmania.

“Add in historically-low interest rates and the interest in Tasmania as a place to live from the mainland I would say there is definitely some growth left in the market.

First homebuyer Rebeckah Howard and her two children moved into their new Herdsmans’s cove home over Christmas.

“The market is so competitive I jumped on this property when it had been online for only six hours,” Ms Howard said.

“You see multiple contracts on one property and people in bidding wars. It feels fantastic to be in our own home. We were so lucky to get the right house at the right time.”

The CoreLogic index showed Australia’s housing market finished the year on a strong footing with home values three per cent higher than the year before.

Regional housing values climbed a massive 6.9 per cent.

CoreLogic’s research director Tim Lawless said the year was characterised by a mild COVID dip in values, but unprecedented volatility in the transaction space.

“The number of residential property sales plummeted by 40 per cent through March and April but finished the year with almost eight per cent more sales relative to a year ago as buyer numbers surged through the second half of the year,” Mr Lawless said.

“Record low interest rates played a key role in supporting housing market activity, along with a spectacular rise in consumer confidence as COVID-related restrictions were lifted and forecasts for economic conditions turned out to be overly pessimistic.”