High-end family home markets like Coledale are leading the way as the Spring selling season approaches. Photo: Region.
Illawarra property sellers are “well-positioned” coming into the Spring selling season, experts say.
The latest results from Cotality show nationally, the Home Value Index (HVI) rose 0.7 per cent in August, the sharpest monthly gain since May 2024 and enough to push annual growth to 4.1 per cent.
The Illawarra is perfectly in step in August, with a rise of 0.7 per cent in the month, just the latest indicator of a solid upward trend, according to Cotality Head of Research Eliza Owen.
“That’s a solid growth rate and makes eight consecutive months of price increases in 2025,” she says.
“The market started this trend even a bit before the February rate cut, rising 0.1 in January.”
That early lift has since snowballed, with higher-end family home markets leading the charge. Over the past three months, Stanwell Park surged seven per cent, followed closely by Tarrawanna, up 6.6 per cent and Coledale, where house values climbed 6.5 per cent.
Not all parts of the region have shared in the gains, however, with Ms Owens noting 15 suburbs where houses or units saw value declines in the same period, led by Primbee where houses were down four per cent.
Kiama, too, had a bit of a dip with houses down 2.8 per cent.
“Kiama is definitely one of the more expensive markets, with median house values at $1.5 million, but generally speaking, it’s those lower-end house markets like Warilla, Keiraville and Lake Illawarra that’ve seen house or unit values decline.”
Even so, the balance remains firmly in positive territory.
“Almost 70 house and unit markets across the 60 Illawarra suburbs we’re looking at have seen an increase,” Ms Owen said.
That strength reflects a mix of tight supply and improving buyer confidence.
Ms Owen said the number of listings remained constrained, with about 1300 properties for sale across the Illawarra in the past month compared to nearly 1500 this time last year, meaning the Spring season was expected to come in hot.
“You have relatively low levels of stock against rising demand, spurred by lower interest rates, a jump in consumer sentiment and in the past week, the announcement of the first home guarantee coming forward to October,” she said.
“Spring is already a very good selling time in Illawarra, which is one of those seasonal markets. But there are a lot of factors on top to put sellers in a really good position and create more urgency among buyers in the Illawarra.”
