Hobart homes selling faster than anywhere in Australia

While the time it takes to sell a Hobart home has slowed this year, it’s still a cracking, nation-leading pace.

FROM hitting the market to being under contract in days, homeowner Veronica Bloom got a first-hand glimpse of just how fast Hobart’s housing market can zoom.

Mrs Bloom, 50, described the quick sale as “fantastic”.

“Oh my stars, what an experience,” she said.

Mrs Bloom had her home appraised a year ago and the difference in expectations were hundreds of thousands apart — just another sign of the strength of the Hobart market.

Her family spent time in the garden, the home’s exterior, and the interior styling to put the property’s best foot forward. But she could never have expected it to attract so many people.

“My daughter and I left the house on open home day and as we drove up the street we saw people everywhere,” Mrs Bloom said.

“It did not click straight away that they were there to see our home.

“I burst into tears. I was overwhelmed.

“It was like the movie We Bought a Zoo; people were coming from every direction.”

Veronica Bloom at the house she sold in Kingston. Picture: Nikki Davis-Jones

Big mountain views.

LJ Hooker Pinnacle Property partner, Alison Rogers, said the campaign for this Kingston home was reminiscent of the market nine months ago.

Instead of a calm open home with a handful of people, this property attracted over 30 groups, which is unheard of at the moment.

“In today’s market, it certainly was a quick one,” Mrs Rogers said.

“We printed off half as many brochures as we should have!”

Mrs Rogers said a bunch of factors helped the home sell quickly, including the owner’s flair for style and presentation.

“Kingston is very popular, it’s close to beaches, bushwalking and it’s 10 minutes from the city — there’s a lot on offer.

“The family-size house is a good size, on an 1100sq m block, and it has an absolutely sensational panoramic view of the mountain.

“The remarkable view was an attraction for many people, including the eventual buyer.”

LJ Hooker Pinnacle Property partner Alison Rogers.

Mrs Bloom was presented with multiple offers, with two standing out above the rest.

Mrs Rogers said the purchaser bought the house sight unseen following a virtual inspection and a building inspection.

“She wanted a mountain view, and this particular view was a special one,” she said.

Even taking into account the slowing of the market of late amid rate hikes and cost of living pressures, Hobart’s pace figures remain red hot.

PropTrack’s 2022 Spring Market Report revealed that Hobart homes took a median of 17 days to sell in the year to July. The next fastest cities were Brisbane (34 days), Melbourne (35 days) and Sydney (37).

The story was similar, but not as extreme, in regional areas, with Tasmania placing second at 34 days to regional Victoria by just one day.

The Tassie regions were quicker than the national average, 40 days, and twice as fast as areas like the Northern Territory (93 days) or WA (74 days).

At a suburb level, the report ranked Sandy Bay, South Hobart and West Hobart houses as our fastest sellers with a median of 16 days between listing and sale confirmation.

New Town and Mount Stuart were not far behind at 17 and 19 days.

In the unit market, Sandy Bay again topped the chart at 15 days, followed by Moonah, Kingston, Glenorchy and Lenah Valley with a time on market ranging from 21-28 days.

PropTrack economist Angus Moore said Hobart had been a faster-selling market than much of Australia for years. However, that has started to change in recent months.

With more stock coming online, the time on market figures should become longer, he said.

“Whether it will come back to the levels that are typical in other cities, that’s unclear,” Mr Moore said.

“Hobart is much faster at the moment, so it has a long way to go to reach that type of change that would bring it in-line with other cities.

“In the immediate future, the days on market data should remain quicker in Hobart than in other cities. It could be 18 months before we see a significant adjustment.”

PropTrack economist Angus Moore.

Mr Moore said market pressures like the availability of more stock, less motivation to buy on the spot, and borrowing capacity potentially lower now than it was before the RBA started raising interest rates, would all factor into how quickly Hobart buyers snap up homes.

“Some people might be more cautious now when making their decisions than they might have been if trying to buy last year,” he said.

“While 2022 has been a busy year so far — including a reasonably busy winter relative to normal — we would expect to see activity ramp up going into and throughout spring.

“It is traditionally the property market’s busiest time of year.”

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