Properties across Australia are flying off the shelf as the market gears up for a turbocharged spring selling season, with some suburbs seeing homes sold within a week of listing.
PropTrack data reveals Townsville suburbs dominate the fastest-selling property markets, with Condon leading house sales at just nine days on market and Douglas topping unit sales at seven days.
Townsville has emerged as one of Australia’s most in-demand housing markets despite experiencing the nation’s fastest price growth, according to PropTrack. The city has been flooded by southern buyers seeking affordable properties with high rental yields, creating fierce competition with local first-home buyers.
REA Group executive manager of economics Angus Moore (pictured above) said Townsville’s rapid price growth had made it the fastest growing region in Australia this year, with prices doubling since the pandemic.
“That’s obviously made affordability far more challenging,” Moore said. “Given that, that pace of growth is going to be hard to sustain.”
In Sydney, houses are selling fastest in affordable western suburbs including Penrith and Macarthur regions. Properties in Jamisontown and Werrington County typically last just 12 days on market, while southwestern suburbs including Eagle Vale and Raby see sales within 14 to 17 days.
Real estate agent Jasmyn Calgaro of Ray White Nepean Group said Jamisontown and South Penrith were in high demand among first-home buyers and local families.
“Properties don’t come up that often but when they do they’re very popular,” Calgaro said. “A lot of people are opting for older houses with more land. It’s definitely good value for money.”
Melbourne’s fastest-selling suburbs were concentrated in the outer southwest, including Carrum Downs, Frankston North, and Narre Warren, where first-home buyers compete with investors for properties under $750,000.
The biggest reductions in selling times were seen across regional Australia, including suburbs of Geelong, Bendigo, and Mildura in Victoria, and Bundaberg and Gladstone in Queensland.
Hobart showed significant improvement, with houses in Austins Ferry, Rosetta, and Geilston Bay selling twice as fast as last year following a slower period after 2022 interest rate hikes.
Moore said housing affordability remained at record worst levels, driving buyers toward areas where homes could be purchased for less.
“Affordable parts of Australia have been popular in recent years given the very challenging levels affordability is at,” he said.
