There were many things that happened and didn’t happen in the Australian property market this year, according to Terry Ryder for Property Observer.
What never happened
- Housing bubble
- White-hot property market
- Inability to afford property
- Housing supply shortage
- Market peak
What actually happened
- Sydney’s price growth was at its strongest in 10 years.
- Perth’s price growth was at its strongest since 2007.
- Melbourne’s annual price growth was 6-7%.
- Darwin led the market at the start of 2013 but its numbers declined.
- Brisbane’s annual price growth was 3-4%.
- Annual price growth for Adelaide, Canberra and Hobart was 1%.
- The average annual price growth was 6-7%, mostly produced by only three cities.
- Regional areas, like Port Lincoln SA, Narrabri NSW and Miles QLD, produced an average price growth of over 15%.
What we learnt in 2013
- The Australian property market isn’t a single entity but thousands of local markets.
- High-population growth areas are damaged by an oversupply of new dwellings.
- Developers don’t care about oversupply in major cities if they can sell property in China.
- A bad place to get real estate information is from metropolitan newspapers.
What to expect in 2014
- More evenly distributed house price growth.
- Brisbane will become the new market leader.
- Sydney and Melbourne numbers will slightly decline but still remain strong.
- Adelaide’s price growth will be at its strongest since 2010.
- Canberra will struggle due to an oversupply of apartments and public service cuts.
