With only 2,904 residents, the small council area of Queenscliff on the Bellarine Peninsula in southern Victoria, recorded the highest proportion of retirees aged over 65 years (40.3%) according to the ABS data.
The small council area of Quairading in Western Australia’s Wheat Belt region enjoyed the greatest house value growth over the year (+21.5%), followed by Shoalhaven in New South Wales (+15.3%).
Of the council areas that have recorded house value falls over the past year, the greatest falls have been recorded in Mount Remarkable in South Australia (-7.1%) and Flinders in Tasmania (-5.2%).
A review by CoreLogic of the ABS retiree population analysis highlights 50 council areas nationally are showing the highest proportion of residents aged at least 65 years of age.
Not one of the 50 council areas listed is located within a capital city, CoreLogic research analyst Cameron Kusher noted.
“In fact, if we list all councils nationally by their proportion of residents aged at least 65, the first capital city area listed is Holdfast Bay in Adelaide with 23.1% of its residents at least 65 years old. Council areas within New South Wales and South Australia also dominate the list with each of these states having 13 entries on the list,” he said.
A further feature of retiree area analysis is that these particular retiree-centric council areas tend to have significantly lower median house values than the individual state capital city housing markets.
“This could be due to retirees moving to areas where housing is more affordable in order to free-up capital for them to enjoy their retirement, it could also be out of necessity due to the high cost of housing within most capital cities,” Mr Kusher said.
“The locations are also likely to be linked to lifestyle preferences, with a large number of the top council areas located in regional coastal areas.”
Looking at the value growth performance for houses across these top 50 regions, the data shows that generally, the rate of growth has been lower than that of the larger capital cities. 31 of the 50 council areas listed have seen house values rise over the past year.
Upcoming auctions
Reservoir in Victoria is the busiest suburb for auctions this week, with 17 homes scheduled to go to auction, followed very closely by Port Macquarie in NSW with 16 scheduled auctions, and Victoria’s Doncaster East and Balwyn North, with 15 and 14 auctions respectively.
The first week of Spring is expected to bring a lower volume of auctions, with 1,899 properties scheduled to go to auction this week across the combined capital cities, falling from last week when final results saw volumes reach their highest level since June (2,270).
While historically auction activity has seen an uplift over Spring, it has been noted in previous years that the first week of September usually sees a lower volume of auctions compared to the week prior. Results from the corresponding week last year saw 1,899 auction’s held across the combined capital cities, which is the same number of auctions we are currently tracking for this week, although as the week progresses the number of auctions is likely to see some upward revision as results are collected.
The two largest markets of Melbourne and Sydney are both expected to see a decrease in auction activity this week, with 900 properties scheduled to go under the hammer in Melbourne, down -20 per cent from the 1,124 auctions held last week, while Sydney is set to see a fall of -13 per cent, with 725 auctions scheduled this week, down from the 832 held last week.
Across the smaller auctions markets, volumes are to fall across Brisbane, Canberra and Perth week-on-week, with Adelaide the only capital city to see a rise in volumes this week, while activity across Tasmania is expected to remain unchanged.
Summary of last week’s results
Last week saw auction volumes reach their highest level since late June with 2,270 auctions held across the combined capital cities, however, the final auction clearance rate fell to 68.3 per cent, down from the week prior when a 69.8 per cent rate of clearance was recorded across a lower 2,064 auctions.
Over the same period one year ago, volumes were a lower 2,153, while the clearance rate was substantially higher (74.5 per cent).
Melbourne’s final auction clearance rate fell last week, down to 72.3 per cent from 75.6 per cent the previous week, however, volumes were considerably higher week-on-week, with 1,124 held, increasing from the 1,001 held over the week prior.
In Sydney, a final auction clearance rate of 67.4 per cent was recorded across 832 auctions, down slightly from the 67.8 per cent over the previous week when 720 auctions were held across the city. Across the remaining capital cities, clearance rates improved in Adelaide and Tasmania, while Brisbane, Perth, and Canberra saw clearance rates fall last week. The best performing non-capital city region last week, recording the highest clearance rate and the most auctions held, was Geelong with 86.8 per cent of the 48 auction reporting as successful.
