While house sales increased in the West Tamar in 2017, median house prices ended the year lower, according to the Real Estate Institute of Tasmania’s 2017 December quarterly report.
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Total house sales increased by 10.8 per cent in the year to December 2017 for the municipality, however the median house price fell by 11.1 per cent over this period.
Results from the December quarter indicated a subdued housing market for the West Tamar.
The median house price from the quarter was $320,000 for the municipality based on 75 house sales – a 5.7 per cent drop in median prices compared to the previous quarter.
However, prices varied wildly throughout the region.
While Trevallyn saw a 22.3 per cent rise in house prices in 2017, prices at Riverside slumped by 28.9 per cent.
Legana’s median price did not move for the year, while Beaconsfield and Beauty Point’s house prices fell by 9.9 and 6.8 per cent respectively.
Exeter recorded a 26.5 per cent rise in prices over the year.
However, One Agency director, and auctioneer, Josh Hart said the drop for the municipality was not necessarily an indicator of a weak housing market.
“There is a lack of stock in the West Tamar at the moment and people are looking to buy a lot of lifestyle property,” he said.
“So from that point of view, if you don’t have enough sales [in the year] it might be reflective on the sale numbers.
“You probably need to look at longer term figures to get a real feel for it.”
Meanwhile, house prices in the George Town municipality jumped by 12.4 per cent over the year, despite a drop of 18.5 per cent in total number of sales.
The median price of houses, based on December quarter’s sales, in the municipality was $190,000.
House prices at George Town itself dropped by 2.6 per cent over 2017, however the municipality saw small growth at Pipers River and Weymouth.
“For a number of years George Town has really struggled, but there’s some great investment happening down there at the moment, and it’s really starting to pick up,” Mr Hart said.