While the overall trend for NSW prices has experienced downward pressure for much of the past year, some areas continue to shine, meeting the needs of the wider market and incorporating a future focus. The city of Blacktown, NSW is one of the best examples being notable for the fastest-growing population in Sydney. Looking at the trends across all of NSW, prices in both the metro and outer regions are generally returning to the levels a year ago; however, Blacktown city has maintained steady values with prices closing slightly up on the previous year.
To meet the population growth a significant amount of new housing stock has come onto the market and tracking the prices of new dwellings constructed in the past two years shows an even stronger micro-market where the median sales price has finished around $900K up from $750K the year previous. The value proposition remains strong with a generally larger house and land packages at relatively affordable pricing when compared to Sydney’s circa $1.5M median.
Applying the exclusive REIP unsettled sales data to the top ten suburbs in Blacktown city for a year to date shows the values holding up with suburbs like The Ponds and Glenwood which feature predominantly four-bedroom properties posting medians above 1.3M albeit on lower volumes. Blacktown suburb sits on the median for the region with by far the largest volumes but also a wider range of dwelling configurations averaging at three bedrooms. Staged developments like Fairwater have contributed some 800 properties onto the market over time and not only offer value but as NSW’s first 6 Star Green Star community, offers a point of difference. Combined with the recent announcement of a $2 billion transformation of Blacktown’s CBD, these long-term planning strategies should promote the desirability of the region and values ongoing.
Though some parts of Blacktown City were among the most impacted by weather events in recent times, this doesn’t appear to have significantly impacted pricing and desirability – particularly amongst the newer developments which incorporate flood safety by design. Affordable as well as larger properties are meeting the needs of first-home buyers and those trading up to a larger property alike.