A string of regional NSW towns have recorded double-digit house price gains of up to 25 per cent in the past year as they provide better affordability and lifestyle than Sydney. The council areas of Lismore and Richmond Valley topped the list, rising 25.1 per cent and 19.
7 per cent in the year to September, respectively, due to a ripple effect from the Lismore flood zone buyback scheme, experts say. House prices rose in the Richmond Valley area. Credit: Danielle Smith That was followed by the Murray River (up 16.
1 per cent), Yass Valley (up 15.8 per cent) and Muswellbrook (up 14.7 per cent).
While the median house price across regional NSW overall was 2.7 per cent higher in the September quarter than a year ago, it slid backwards by 0.7 per cent in the last three months, the latest Domain House Price Report, released on Tuesday, revealed.
Domain chief of research and economics Dr Nicola Powell said buyers were drawn to regional NSW for its greater affordability and lifestyle balance despite the end of the extreme tree- and sea-change movement during 2020 and 2021. But even then, buyers were caught up in the cost-of-living pressures of high prices and high mortgage rates. “It’s showing the first quarterly decline in two years,” Powell said, adding demand was stronger for relatively affordable areas.
Powell said only two of the top 10 local government areas that recorded the strongest price growth were more premium areas – the local government areas of Tweed and Kiama. .
