Lake Macquarie suburbs lead in strongest house value growth

According to CoreLogic's Best of the Best report released on Thursday, Rathmines topped a list of suburbs with the strongest 12-month growth across Newcastle and Lake Macquarie this year.

Houses in the lakeside suburb experienced growth of 12.6 per cent to hold a median value of $797,578.

Suburbs of Lake Macquarie claimed every spot in the top 10 for house value growth in the report which summed up the country's annual property performance.

Murrays Beach was in second place with house value growth of 12.5 per cent (median value $1,321,125) followed by Wangi Wangi (12.5 per cent, $923,397); Boolaroo (11.7 per cent, $854,021) and Arcadia Vale (11.6 per cent, $ 839,511).

Rounding out the top 10 was Dudley (11.4 per cent, median value $957,487); Whitebridge (10.9 per cent, $953,052); Cardiff (9.1 per cent, $741,209); Dora Creek (9.1 per cent, $855,673) and Caves Beach (9 per cent, $1,121,627).

"Looking at the 12 month change in values it would make sense that there is a little bit more emphasis on housing demand further from the centre of Newcastle," CoreLogic research director Eliza Owen said.

"People are finding more value for money a little bit further out from the city."

Ms Owen said house value growth in million-dollar markets such as Murrays Beach and Caves Beach could be driven by downsizers moving into these suburbs.

"A lot of the market dynamic we have seen more broadly across Australia in the past 12 months has been a mix between buyers who are limited by a high interest rate and forced to more affordable pockets of the market as well as those who are less dependent on credit, namely older Australians who are selling up and looking to downsize," she said.

"Areas that present a lot of value near the waterfront are likely to be in high demand from that sort of buyer [downsizers] as well."

By comparison, suburbs of Newcastle dominated a list of places with the smallest value growth over the past 12 months.

Fern Bay recorded a fall of 2.7 per cent in house values this year, followed by Wyee (-0.9 per cent); Tighes Hill (-0.8 per cent) and Islington (-0.6 per cent).

Other suburbs with small value growth were Cooks Hill (0.1 per cent); Hamilton South (1.4 per cent); Maryville (1.6 per cent); Kotara South (1.8 per cent); Mayfield West (2 per cent); and Broadmeadow (2.2 per cent).

The report also revealed the most affordable and most expensive suburbs across Newcastle and Lake Macquarie in 2023.

The most expensive suburbs by median house value were Merewether ($1,781,849); Merewether Heights ($1,585,117); Redhead ($1,577,617); Cooks Hill ($1,511,234); Hamilton South ($1,469,455); Murrays Beach ($1,321,125); Valentine ($1,191,594); Eleebana ($1,185,710); Caves Beach ($1,121,627) and Stockton ($1,100,097).

Merewether also ranked in ninth place on the top 10 list of most expensive suburbs (house values) in regional NSW.

At the opposite end of the scale, the region's most affordable suburbs by median house value were Woodberry ($529,148); Beresfield ($577,413); Shortland ($652,001); Holmesville ($659,624); Birmingham Gardens ($668,729); Edgeworth ($676,543); Windale ($678,158); Jesmond ($689,812); Toronto ($694,825) and Blackalls Park ($694,936).

The report comes after house and unit values across Newcastle and Lake Macquarie recorded the strongest growth in NSW in November at 1.3 per cent.

The median house value in Newcastle and Lake Macquarie rose to $878,672 last month while units hold a median value of $658,633.

Ms Owen said rising dwelling values in the region could be linked to growing interest from buyers out of Sydney.

"One thing we have noticed is with Sydney's rebound and values getting to just 2 per cent shy of where they were before interest rates started to rise, there has been a little more interest in looking north and south of Sydney again," she said.

"That might explain some of the interest in some of those more affordable house markets.

"Even the unit markets, which are relatively expensive in areas like Newcastle and Newcastle West, there could be some appeal in those markets as well compared to what you might pay to be close to amenity in Sydney."

According to the Best of the Best report, the suburb of Newcastle ranked fifth in regional NSW on a list of highest total value of unit sales.

There were 157 unit sales recorded in the 12 months to September 2023 which had a combined total value of $154,105,366.

Newcastle topped the list of the suburbs with the most expensive units in Newcastle and Lake Macquarie, with a median value of $959,211 and 12-month growth of 4.3 per cent.

The most affordable suburb by median unit value in the past 12 months was Jesmond at $477,178 which recorded a fall of 1.3 per cent in values.

"With the Newcastle unit market median climbing to almost $1 million, it's clear that this city has experienced an incredible transformation," she said.

"It has really proven itself as a desirable place to live and work and I can't see that changing."

- Readers can now subscribe to Australian Community Media's free weekly Newcastle Herald property newsletter.

The newsletter will keep you informed about what's currently making headlines in the region's real estate market and beyond.

To sign up, click here, scroll down, enter your details, click the 'property' box and then click 'subscribe'.