Inner North PRD Market Update 2nd Half of 2019

In Q3 2019, the Inner North recorded a median house price of $858,000, and a median unit price of $484,000. This represents annual (Q3 2018 – Q3 2019) median price changes of -7.2% for houses and -3.2% for units. At the same time, total sales in both markets slowed for Q3 2019, down by -28.5% for houses to 88 sales and by –15.6% for units to 189 sales. Now is an ideal time to enter the market, with lower prices and fewer competitive buyers in the area.

Average vendor discount between Q3 2018 and Q3 2019 widened for units to -2.0% and swung to 0.1% for houses. Market conditions in the Inner North have now shifted to marginally favour vendors, meaning sellers are able to achieve sale prices above their initial asking price. In contrast, unit sellers are willing to negotiate below their initial listing price, suggesting now is the time to enter the market.

Over the past 12 months, house rental yields in the Inner North have compressed to reach 4.1% in June 2019. This suggests that the house rental market is in a healthy position for investors, as demand for rental properties in the region across the same time period also increased (up by a significant +32.3% in the 12 months to Q3 2019).

2 bedroom houses have provided investors with +12.5% rental growth annually, achieving a median rent of $580 per week.

The Inner North recorded a vacancy rate of 1.3% in June 2019, on-par with Canberra Metro’s 1.3% average and much lower than Sydney Metro’s 3.5%. This further confirms a healthy rental demand exists for properties in the Inner North.