A Launceston city townhouse has sold for a record price only 24 hours after being listed.
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The two bed one bath Georgian style townhouse on St John Street in Launceston was listed on September 10 and sold the next day after the owners received a strong offer.
George Bushby from Bushby Property Group said the house had originally been scheduled for sale by auction on October 1 but, was sold shortly after being listed when the owners received an offer in excess of $750,000.
Mr Bushby said while a reserve price for the auction had not been set, the accepted offer was well beyond the owner's expectations.
He said the $750,000 sale of the 137 square metre property with no onsite parking was a new record for the Launceston area at $5500 a square meter.
Mr Bushby said the property was sold to an interest out of Hobart but, confirmed 80 per cent of the inquiries relating to the property came from the mainland.
He said the market had spiked in the last four months driven by buyers on the mainland looking for investment properties and an escape from coronavirus imposed lockdowns.
Mr Bushby said four months ago he would have expected the St John Street property to sell for $500,000.
He said while the sale had been prosperous for those in the real estate industry the high prices driven by mainlanders relocating to Tasmania had the potential to lock locals out of the property market.
Recent data from the Regional Australia Institute found there was a persistent trend in people moving to regional Australia, with areas within a three-hour drive of the capital city most popular.
According to the June quarter Regional Movers Index, there was an 11 per cent rise in the number of people moving from capital cities to regional areas compared with the June 2020 quarter.
The RAI found Tasmania saw an increase in regional settlement with a 4 per cent rise from 2020 to 2021.
RAI chief economist Dr Kim Houghton said regional areas are emerging as desirable destinations for capital city residents which was driving competition in the local markets.
"We can also see that the number of regional residents choosing to stay put has increased, which is likely to be contributing to the housing squeeze in some areas," he said.
Minister for State Growth Roger Jaensch said the government had been working to drive population growth in the state.
He said in the year to March 2021, Tasmania's population had grown by 2,091 people bringing the total number of Tasmanians to 541,965.
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