Despite talk of an economic slowdown, there is still plenty of money to be made on the property market, according to data from RP Research.
The research ranking the country's top 50 suburbs by the rate of capital growth shows the top 21 suburbs showed growth of over 40 per cent, while the rest all recorded growth of over 35 per cent.
Top five growth suburbs
The highest capital gains reported over the past year was in the Victorian suburb of Mont Albert, in Whitehorse. The price growth in houses sold in the suburb last year was 50 per cent, with median prices hitting $1.035 million.
Mont Albert was closely followed by Glen Huntly in Glen Eira Victoria and Castlecrag, of Willoughby, in New South Wales which both showed capital gains growth of 49.9 per cent.
Rounding out the top five was Underdale of West Torrens, South Australia with 48 per cent growth and South Hedland of Port Hedland in Western Australia with growth of 47.6 per cent.
Resources and sea changes
Sixty-six per cent of the 50 top performing suburbs listed by RP Data were within the boundaries of capital cities.
Looking at the regions, RP Data’s national research director Tim Lawless said resource-driven towns did well. The likes of Broken Hill in NSW enjoyed capital gains of 44.6 per cent compared to the year earlier; Kalgoorlie in WA, reporting 36.1 per cent gains; and Whyalla of SA 35.4 per cent gains. Some of these markets were coming off a low base, with the median house price in Broken Hill still just $120,000.
Sea change markets also did well. Cable Beach in WA reported capital gains of 46.8 per cent, Booragul near Lake Macquarie in NSW, 36.5 per cent and Alexandra Headland on the Sunshine Coast posted capital gains of 40.8 per cent.
Looking ahead
RP Data’s research director Tim Lawless said the mortgage belts of Sydney were worth keeping an eye on. Although these areas have been in the doldrums, he said they were well placed for good investments, with low prices, strong rental yields and high populations.
He said the southern and western suburbs of Brisbane – such as Wacol, Logan and Ipswich – were also worth casting an eye over from an investment point of view. The suburbs have low house prices but an undersupply of rental properties which means landlords can charge a healthy rent.
Top 50 suburbs by capital gains
1 MONT ALBERT, VIC, 50.0 per cent
2 GLEN HUNTLY, VIC, 49.9 per cent
3 CASTLECRAG, NSW, 49.0 per cent
4 UNDERDALE, SA, 48.0 per cent
5 SOUTH HEDLAND, WA, 47.6 per cent
6 CARLTON, VIC, 47.1 per cent
7 INGHAM, QLD, 46.9 per cent
8 CABLE BEACH, WA, 46.8 per cent
9 COLLINSVILLE,QLD, 46.6 per cent
10 PASADENA, SA, 45.2 per cent
11 ECHUNGA, SA, 45.2 per cent
12 FIG TREE POCKET,QLD, 44.7 per cent
13 BROKEN HILL,NSW, 44.6 per cent
14 GLEN EDEN, QLD, 44.2 per cent
15 CALLIOPE, QLD, 44.0 per cent
16 SEMAPHORE, SA, 44.0 per cent
17 HIGHGATE, SA, 43.6 per cent
18 NORTHBRIDGE, NSW, 43.3 per cent
19 ELIZABETH, SA 41.7 per cent
20 SOUTH BRIGHTON, SA, 41.5 per cent
21 ALEXANDRA HEADLAND,QLD, 40.8 per cent
22 BRONTE, NSW, 39.7 per cent
23 HIGHGATE HILL,QLD, 39.3 per cent
24 CLERMONT, QLD, 39.0 per cent
25 WHYALLA, SA, 39.0 per cent
26 GILBERTON, SA, 38.9 per cent
27 KYLE BAY, NSW, 38.8 per cent
28 BAYVIEW, NT, 38.8 per cent
29 MONT ALBERT NORTH, VIC, 38.7 per cent
30 KENSINGTON GARDENS, SA, 38.4 per cent
31 CRYSTAL BROOK, SA, 38.3 per cent
32 IVANHOE EAST, VIC, 38.3 per cent
33 PALMYRA, WA, 38.3 per cent
34 LEABROOK, SA, 38.1 per cent
35 WACOL, QLD, 38.0 per cent
36 ABBOTSFORD, VIC, 37.9 per cent
37 GLENELG, SA, 37.9 per cent
38 MIDDLE PARK, VIC, 37.9 per cent
39 CUMBERLAND, SA, 37.7 per cent
40 UNLEY Unley, SA, 37.5 per cent
41 BELLFIELD,VIC, 37.2 per cent
42 HYDE PARK, QLD, 36.8 per cent
43 SEDDON, VIC, 36.6 per cent
44 BOORAGUL, NSW, 36.5 per cent
45 KALGOORLIE, WA, 36.1 per cent
46 WONGA PARK, VIC, 35.9 per cent
47 ETHELTON, SA, 35.8 per cent
48 HECTORVILLE, SA, 35.6 per cent
49 SOUTH TOWNSVILLE, QLD, 35.5 per cent
50 WHYALLA, SA, 35.4 per cent
Source: RP Data
