The most in-demand buyer hotspots across the nation this spring

With interest rates falling and auction clearance rates sitting at their highest in two years, spring buyers are re-entering the market at full speed – but they’re not all looking in the same two suburbs.

Domain’s Spring Property Report reveals the most in-demand buyer hotspots across every capital city and where buyers are narrowing their focus this spring selling season.

The top 10 buyer hotspots in each capital city were identified using Domain listing data, which analysed the areas with the highest views per listing based on residential properties between January to August this year.

The nuances between each capital city’s most in-demand regions offer buyers a lot of insight when looked at closely, from buyer patterns to where a city is currently placed in its property cycle, says Domain chief of research and economics Dr Nicola Powell.

In Melbourne, listing views were highest for available properties in the ABS SA3 region Stonnington-West, which includes suburbs Armadale, Toorak, South Yarra, Prahran and Windsor.

Stonnington-West received almost three times as many views per listing as the average, followed by Yarra and Stonnington-East.

The region’s median house price is $1.96 million – $900,000 higher than Melbourne’s capital city median of $1.066 million.

Powell says Stonnington-West’s popularity among buyers is indicative of Melbourne blooming into an established, recovering market, in which prestige neighbourhoods are the first to bounce back.

“Where Melbourne is at in terms of the property price cycle is very different to the other capital cities, we’ve only just seen it move into an established recovery,” she says.

“What you’ve got is this pool of buyers that are now looking at this as the opportune time to move – especially with the cash rate coming down.”

The second most in-demand region in Melbourne was Yarra, which includes the suburbs of Richmond, Fitzroy and Collingwood, to name a few.

The silver-placed ranking for Yarra comes as no surprise for buyer’s advocate Cate Bakos, who says a surge in listing views may have been propped up by a strong performing unit market and quality unit stock in the area.

The median unit price in Yarra sits at $575,000, according to the latest Domain House Price Report.

“We’ve had units outperforming houses for the last few months and obviously first-time buyers have really been further stimulated by talk of the uncapped [income] deposit guarantee being available from the first of October,” she says.

In Sydney, the report predicts competition among buyers will be fiercest in the Inner West, with Leichhardt and Marrickville-Sydenham-Petersham listings attracting more than four times the average buyer views.

The Inner West’s connectivity to the CBD, as well as comparatively more affordable price tags compared to the Eastern suburbs, would contribute to buyer demand and increased listing views on Domain, says Sydney-based buyer’s agent Michelle May.

“You’ve got the Eastern Suburbs, Inner West and Lower North Shore, and among them the Inner West is still the most affordable,” she says.

The median house price in the ABS SA3 Leichhardt is $2.3 million and includes Balmain, Lilyfield-Rozelle,
Annandale and Leichhardt, and over in Marrickville-Sydenham-Petersham it’s $2.06 million.

These figures are more appetising compared to the $4.7 million house price median in Eastern Suburbs-North, which name drops Bellevue Hill and Double Bay in its cohort, and was Sydney’s second most in-demand region. 

However, the newly announced rezoning plans along Parramatta Road spanning from Leichhardt to Camperdown, where up to 8000 new homes could be built, may also result in more eyes on listings and interest in the area, adds May.

“If you are a house owner in an area that’s being rezoned to from to low density to medium density or high density that means that you may get a good price now and sell to a developer, right? It also means that if you don’t, you could end up like The Castle.”

The Domain’s Spring Property Report also pinpoints a return to the city for Brisbane buyers, where the most in-demand regions include Brisbane Inner West, Brisbane Inner East, Brisbane Inner and Brisbane Inner North in the top 10. 

Powell attributes this trend to buyers seeking connectivity to the city, as well as a return of investors, both of whom have a strong interest in high-rise living.

“The buyer pool has changed and we’ve got a rising interest from investors, they tend to go to high rise living and that draws them into the CBD – but also buyers really want greater connectivity and urban living, which also leads them to the city,” she says.

To access Adelaide, Canberra and Perth’s most in-demand regions, find the full Domain Spring Property Report here. Due to the low volume of data, Hobart and Darwin were excluded from this report.