Property hits new records | thetelegraph.com.au
MORE properties sold for record prices in Sydney's west than in any other region over the past year.
Property hits new records
Sales across the city fell by just over 11 per cent last year, but this failed to halt the march of prices in the western suburbs - where most people can afford to buy.
According to figures compiled by Residex, 40 suburbs across the west and inner west have recorded a top sale price for a house, unit or block of land since January 1 last year, as have almost a dozen southwestern suburbs stretching towards Campbelltown.
"Affordability means we're moving further out, but we're pushing up costs and creating record prices as we move out," Residex managing director John Edwards said.
The million-dollar mark was cracked in Merrylands for the first time in August last year with the sale of a new five- bedroom home in Price St at auction for $1.05 million.
But many top sales were for modest properties, with a three-bedroom house on a 680sq m block in Riverside Drive, Airds, near Campbelltown, selling for $270,000 and a unit in Sunny Place, St Johns Park for $385,000.
In Greenfield Park, west of Fairfield, a four-bedroom villa in Devenish St set a price record for the suburb a week before Christmas when it sold for $400,000. In Holroyd, a four-bedroom home in Robert St was snapped up for $770,000 in November.
Population growth was the main driver of property prices in the west, said Chris Freeman, head of research for national project marketers MLG Realty.
"Dwelling approvals are 16 per cent lower than they were 20 years ago, but population growth is 65 per cent higher than it was 20 years ago," Mr Freeman said.
Government forecasts indicate the population of the southwestern region between Liverpool and Camden will grow by 464,000 in the next 25 years - or 113 per cent.
The northwest's population is expected to double in the same time, while the Parramatta region should grow by just over 30 per cent.
"We're quite bullish on the west," Mr Freeman said.
The northern suburbs clocked up 30 record sales, with the city and east seeing 10 records.
Courtesy : http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/property/property-hits-new-records/story-e6freztr-1226020406230
