Median house prices in Wollongong at a record high

Wollongong’s property market continues to boom, with new data showing the median house price is now $530,000, a jump of 10.2 per cent in the December quarter and the first time the Wollongong median house price has risen above $0,000.

The 10.2 per cent jump in median house prices comes on the back of a 7.5 per cent growth in the June 2014 quarter. According to the Domain Group’s House Price Report, Wollongong’s median house price shot up 12.9 per cent over the year, sitting just under Sydney’s 14 per cent growth.

Domain Group senior economist Andrew Wilson said Wollongong’s performance was extraordinary.

“This is the first time the Wollongong median is now over $0,000 and that’s certainly a record,” Dr Wilson said.

“I think Wollongong is certainly back in town and has caught the Sydney fever.”

Apartment prices in Wollongong jumped 10.7 per cent over the year and 8.1 per cent over the quarter to $398,0.

The Kiama region also had strong growth last year with house prices shooting up by 12 per cent.

Dr Wilson is forecasting price growth for Wollongong of between 7 and 10 per cent for 2015.

“There is certainly plenty of confidence and momentum in the Wollongong market from buyers and sellers,’ Dr Wilson said.

These record median house price figures for Wollongong follow a new global property report by Germany’s Deutsche Bank which list real estate prices in Wollongong as more expensive than in New York.

Wollongong’s booming real estate market was highlighted in Deutsche Bank’s study of global house prices which ranks Wollongong alongside Sydney, Melbourne and London and more expensive than cities like New York, Washington DC, Miami and Toronto.

The new Deutsche Bank study ranks Australian property prices as fourth most expensive in the OECD.