Newcastle median house prices are flying towards $800,000, only three months after crashing through the $700,000 barrier.
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New house price data from CoreLogic shows the median value of a freestanding house in Newcastle and Lake Macquarie was $781,000 at August 31, up 2.2 per cent on the previous month.
The median price has jumped 7 per cent in the past three months, a staggering 28.3 per cent in a year and $145,000 since January.
Unit prices rose 1.5 per cent to a record median of $598,000 and are poised to reach their own milestone figure in September.
The overall median property value, combining houses and apartments, stood at a record $750,000 on August 31, up 26.2 per cent in a year.
Real estate agent Steph Jordan said houses were selling rapidly despite the month-long lockdown in the Hunter and nine weeks of restrictions in Greater Sydney which are designed to stop Sydney people inspecting investment properties in regional NSW.
"We can't seem to keep any stock on the market," she said.
"A lot of properties are selling before market at the moment because we have so many fresh buyers on our database.
"People are paying overs before it gets to market."
House prices in the rest of the Hunter, outside Newcastle, hit a median of $592,000 last month, up 2.5 per cent on July and 24.7 per cent for the year.
Apartment prices have risen 18.2 per cent to a median of $422,000.
The Newcastle and Hunter market grew faster than in Sydney, where the median price rose 1.8 per cent.
The national market rose 1.5 per cent and the regional median grew 1.6 per cent.
CoreLogic said the monthly growth rate peaked in March at 2.8 per cent but growth was still "brisk".
None of the state capital cities outperformed Newcastle in August for price growth.
Ms Jordan said her stock levels were 75 per cent lower than at the same time last year, partly due to fewer properties coming on the market and partly because houses were selling quickly.
"Our appraisal rates are huge at the moment. I feel like there is going to be a lot of stock come on the market in October, November," she said.
"With the uncertainty, people are just sitting back and waiting at the moment.
"And also they can see there's not a lock of stock for them to go and buy themselves."
Newcastle agent Scott Walkom said his firm had posted a house for sale in Cooks Hill on Friday for just under $1 million and sold it on Monday.
"The market is incredibly strong considering the economy," he said.
"There's a lot of demand. Stock's coming on because vendors are thinking these conditions are pretty amazing."
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