Lake Macquarie PRD Market Update 2nd Half of 2019

In Q3 2019, Lake Macquarie recorded a median house price of $640,000, and a median unit price of $482,500. This represents annual (Q3 2018 – Q3 2019) median price softening of -1.7% for houses and growth of 6.0% for units. At the same time total house sales slightly slowed, by -1.7% (to 172 sales), while units increased by 34.2% (to 80 sales). Now is an ideal time to transact as there is a strong unit market and more affordable houses for first time home buyers.

Average vendor discount between Q3 2018 and Q3 2019 has widened for both property types, to -5.4% for houses and -6.1% for units. Market conditions in Lake Macquarie favour buyers even further, where sellers are willing to negotiate much lower than their initial listing price.

Over the past 12 months, house rental yields in Lake Macquarie have remained stable, at 3.8% in June 2019. By comparison, Sydney Metro achieved just a 2.8% house rental yield during the same time frame, suggesting investors have the potential to gain higher returns in the Lake Macquarie rental market.

4+ bedroom houses have provided investors with +3.8% rental growth annually, achieving a median rent of $540 per week.

Lake Macquarie recorded a vacancy rate of 1.1% in June 2019, even lower than the LGA’s already low rate of 1.5% and much lower than Sydney Metro’s 3.5%. This confirms there is a stronger rental demand in Lake Macquarie.