The Real Estate Institute of Tasmania’s quarterly December report revealed the median house price in Launceston reached $292,000 over 12 months, with house sales reaching 1334 – up 280 units from 2016 and the highest ever recorded. 

Suburbs to see the biggest gains over the past year were Kings Meadows, Newnham and Trevallyn, while Riverside, East Launceston and Launceston city saw the biggest losses in 2017.

REIT president Tony Collidge said the results demonstrate confidence in the state’s North after years of inconsistent growth. 

“People are feeling there is a future, and when people feel like that they buy and sell,” he said.

“There’s the news of the university [development] and the impact that will have, Errol Stewart with some of developments he’s got happening and some of the other things that are going on around town.

“It’s really creating a vibrancy.”

REIT’s quarterly report noted the Launceston areas growing the fastest were outer suburbs, while inner-city locations had seen stable or negative growth. 

A recent survey by Aussie Homeloans also showed that St Leonards and Hadspen were the most desirable suburbs to buy properties for families in Launceston. 

Mr Collidge said the growth in Launceston’s outer suburbs was atypical of a housing market in its early stages of growth. 

“The same’s happened in Hobart with Glenorchy and Claremont – all of a sudden they were significant movers in comparison to the inner city of Hobart, and the same thing applies [in Launceston]. 

“As the inner-city prices increase, people can’t afford to buy [inner-city houses] so they start to look at the outer areas.”

Statewide, residential real estate sales were the highest in a decade at 11,353, with the total value of $3.88 billion – the highest ever cumulative value in a single year.

While Hobart’s median house price rose to $431,000, an 8.8 per cent increase from 2016, Mr Collidge issued a stern warning to accompany the results. 

He wrote that strong performance in southern Tasmania was “undermined” by a housing shortage in Hobart.

The REIT chief said affordable housing was dangerously low in Hobart, with the capital city desperately needing greater property supply in the short-term future.

Mr Collidge said Launceston would fall into a similar trap if preemptive measures were not taken.

“Launceston is probably two years behind where the market is at [in Hobart], so there’s still time for the building process to get underway so you can continue to meet demand as it comes through,” he said.

“The state needs to have a  new planning scheme implemented that simplifies the planning process, enables developers and builders to get on with the job, and not be dragged along by red tape.

“We also need to allow for higher density building, particularly closer to the city areas.”