Hunter property prices powered ahead in February after a year in which the average Newcastle house stayed on the market just 24 days.
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CoreLogic figures show the median sale price for a house in Newcastle and Lake Macquarie increased by another 2.4 per cent last month and 5.5 per cent since the start of December.
The median house price has jumped 11.8 per cent in a year to a record $657,000.
Houses in the Newcastle local government area spent an average of three-and-a-half weeks on the market in the year to January, the fastest turnover in regional NSW. Lake Macquarie was not far behind on 31 days.
The Newcastle Herald reported on Saturday that a house in Cressington Way, Wallsend, had sold at auction for $809,000, $159,000 above its reserve price.
The house had increased 37 per cent in value since selling a year ago for $590,000.
A three-bedroom house in Upfold Street, Mayfield, sold for $823,000, a record for the street by $135,000.
Unit prices, up 0.6 per cent in February and 1.8 per cent in the past three months, have also started to edge higher in Newcastle and Lake Macquarie. The median apartment sale across the city is now $530,000.
House prices in the rest of the Hunter, where the market has been slightly slower to bounce back from the pandemic, were up 2 per cent in February and 4.5 per cent in three months to a median of $486,000.
Earlier data issued by CoreLogic showed sellers in Newcastle offered an average discount of just 2.4 per cent to buyers in the three months to January 31.
In the 12 months to November 2020, one in eight Newcastle houses, about 700 out of 6000, sold for more than $1 million and 1.9 per cent changed hands for more than $2 million.
One in four Newcastle sales topped $800,000.
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House prices rose 2.1 per cent across Australia in February, the largest jump in CoreLogic's monthly property report since 2003.
The Reserve Bank left official interest rates unchanged at a record low of 0.1 per cent on Tuesday.
The central bank has said rates could remain at that level until 2024, though some economists say the RBA could raise them some time next year to address soaring property prices.
Sydney prices, which fell sharply last year, rose 2.5 per cent in February and are heading back towards record levels. Melbourne prices jumped 2.1 per cent.
"The last time we saw a sustained period where every capital city and rest of state region was rising in value was mid-2009 through to early 2010, as post-GFC stimulus fueled buyer demand," CoreLogic research director Tim Lawless said.
"With household incomes expected to remain subdued and stimulus winding down, it is likely affordability will once again become a challenge in these cities."
One of the factors influencing housing prices is supply.
The number of properties advertised for sale nationally remained 26.2 per cent below 2020 levels.
But the number of house sales rose to an estimated 17.9 per cent above the decade average in the past six months, suggesting demands remains high.
Opposition leader Anthony Albanese said during a visit to the Hunter on Tuesday that a Labor government would address housing affordability by encouraging more social and affordable housing.
"If you do that, you increase supply, you increase the quality of life for people who need public housing," Mr Albanese said.
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