Tasmania’s Real Estate Market Continues Climb

Tasmania’s real estate market has recorded the strongest growth since 2002, largely driven by local demand.

The Real Estate Institute of Tasmania’s quarterly report shows 3205 sales worth $1.4 billion were made in the March quarter, representing the highest quarterly value on record.

Real estate sales numbers were up 14.4 per cent on 2020, and a whopping 32.1 per cent increase in value.

REIT President Mandy Welling said the local real estate market was being driven by Tasmanians as a result of the pandemic.

“What continues to fascinate is that this market is being driven locally with just 15.1 per cent of sales made from outside this state,” Welling said.

“While the March quarterly figures did not show a surge in mainland buyer activity in our market, current levels of enquiry suggest that this will change as we move deeper into 2021.”

Tasmania’s median house prices increased across all regions with Hobart up 8.5 per cent to $623,750, Launceston up 11.4 per cent to $420,000, and the north-west centres up 28.5 per cent to $379,000, according to the March quarter data.

Figures show up to 84 per cent of all transactions were made by Tasmanians—mainland buyers and foreign buyers were responsible for only 14 sales (0.4 per cent of buyers) in the period.

“We are noticing a growing trend of increased levels of activity in all regional areas of the state. In particular, increased activity in the north-west, which had been struggling for so long,” Welling said.

Reflecting a shortage of rental property, Launceston recorded its lowest vacancy rate of 1.3 per cent.

Similarly, the north-west centres recorded vacancy rates of 2.1 per cent. Hobart’s vacancy rate dropped 0.3 per cent to 1.7 per cent.

Tasmania's million-dollar sales

There were 144 million-dollar transactions, up 162 per cent on last year. Welling said 76 per cent of these sales were by locals.

Battery Point remains Tasmania’s most expensive suburb, recording six sales over the period at a median price of $1.6 million.

Sandy Bay ranked second at $1.27 million with West Hobart third at $1.05 million.

Tasmania’s most affordable suburbs remained Queenstown at $117,500, Rosebery, $132,000 and Zeehan at $135,000.

The report noted investor activity was similar to last year, reflecting 17.5 per cent of all sales. Welling said this was still well below the 21 per cent to 23 per cent recorded before 2018.

Tasmania held the top spot in CommSec’s State of the States quarterly report for the fifth consecutive quarter, bolstered by population and economic growth, and equipment investment.

CommSec’s quarterly report, released this week, found equipment investment in Tasmania was up 27.8 per cent on the decade average, and investment was up 43.5 per cent on the previous year.