Adelaide house sales, values keep climbing

Aug 2000

The South Australian property market ended the 1999 financial year with better-than-expected rises in median house prices and sales volume.

Despite uncertainty regarding the introduction of the GST, home buyers pushed the State median house price up by 12.37 per cent to $129, 000, compared with the same time last year.

The number of houses sold in SA during the June 2000 quarter also rose from 6,495 in the June 1999 quarter to 6,863 this year, according to data from the Department for Administrative and Information Services (DAIS), released by Valuer General Neil Bray.

REISA President Rosalind Neale, said the June figures defied speculation that the property market could cool off during the quarter.

Mrs Neale said that while buyers were largely unaware of the impact the GST would have on prices, the DAIS data underlined the strength of the SA real estate market.

"Anecdotal evidence pointed to a slowdown, but the figures do not reflect this," Mrs Neale said.

"Buyers have shrugged off the uncertainty surrounding the new taxation system and have simply got on with the important decision of purchasing a home to take advantage of terrific market conditions, such as low interest rates and high home affordability levels:"

"That being said, inquiries linked to the $7,000 First Home Owners Grant Scheme, which came into effect on July 1, have been very strong."

"We will have to wait until the next quarter to determine how the scheme has benefited the local market, particularly during the traditionally slow winter period:"

According to the DAIS figures, metropolitan Adelaide remains a strong driver of the SA market, with 5,317 homes sold during the June quarter, compared with 4,843 at the same time last year. Meanwhile, the median price rose 10.69 per cent to $138,700.

Over the same period, inner-metropolitan Adelaide - which includes the areas bounded by Portrush, Regency, South and Cross roads reported a 9.36 per cent increase in sales volume while the median price rose by 6.42 per cent to $227,100.

However, the June 2000 figure represents a 3.12 per cent drop in the inner-metropolitan median house price from the March 2000 quarter.

REISA analysis suggests the quarterly decrease reflects the gradual re-alignment of Adelaide's position in the national housing market.

In regional SA, the median price rose by 16.6 per cent from the second quarter of 1999 to the June quarter of 2000 to $103,900, while sales volume dropped from 501 to 438.

Centres such as Port Lincoln (prices rose by 42.84 per cent to $135,700 but sales volume fell by 1.5 per cent) and Victor Harbor, where prices rose by 12.86 per cent to $137,800 maintain their strong position in the market.