THE most affordable liveable suburbs in Greater Hobart have been revealed in the latest report from PRDnationwide’s research team.
Its 2nd Half 2018 Affordable & Liveable Property Guide singled out Kingston and Lindisfarne — for houses and units — alongside Geilston Bay houses and Bellerive units as the top six best suburbs in the southern capital city.
PRDnationwide national research manager Diaswati Mardiasmo said the suburbs were selected based on property prices, future growth prospects and lifestyle perks.
To make the list, suburbs needed to record reasonably affordable median prices, strong investment markets and a high level of project development.
They also had to have lifestyle features such as a below-average crime rate, easy access to schools, parks, shops, transport and health care facilities, as well as low unemployment rates.
The report described Kingston as Hobart’s “best liveable suburb for houses and units”.
It featured the lowest crime levels, a stable unit median price throughout the year, and strong median house price growth of 17.5 per cent since 2017.
The report said there was “healthy rental demand” for houses in the suburb, a low vacancy rate of 0.6 per cent, and a rental yield of 4.1 per cent.
The report said millions of dollars of commercial and residential developments in Kingston would “further enhance the liveability and boost economic activity in the area”.
In the housing market, the report revealed Lindisfarne as a suburb that “ticks all of the right boxes” for liveability and was set for sustainable economic growth for the future.
Unemployment in the area is well below the state average, which is good news for investors.
The report found that between January 1 and September 30, Clarendon Vale ($211,250 median), Rokeby ($281,000) and Warrane ($305,000) were Greater Hobart’s most affordable suburbs.
In the same time-frame, Battery Point ($1.25 million median), Sandy Bay ($889,000) and Dynnyrne ($732,500) were the highest-priced suburbs.
PRDnationwide national research manager Diaswati Mardiasmo.
The report singled out Sandy Bay, Claremont and Bellerive houses as the top recent performers achieving high prices and strong growth figures.
In the unit sector it was Sandy Bay, again, alongside Lindisfarne and Bellerive.
Dr Mardiasmo said looking at the changes from the first to the second half of the year there were signals that the Greater Hobart market had “returned to a sustainable level of price growth”.
She said this was great news for first-home buyers who may have been priced out of the market for the past 12 months.
“To ensure liveability aspects were met, the median suburb price had to be raised above that of the Hobart metro median price,” Dr Mardiasmo said.
“This only occurred in Hobart, which suggests the strong need to develop a strategy that addresses liveability aspects in more affordable areas of Hobart.”
