Latest NewsProperty Market's Latest WinnersSunday, 04 December 2016

The inner west and north shore are Sydney's best-performing residential property markets with surging land values outpacing the traditionally top-ranking eastern and lower northern suburbs last year.

But land values in the central business district fell at the sharpest rate since the slump of the early 1990s, with little expectation of a quick rebound.

The latest land valuation data, to be sent to property owners from next week, reveals a tale of two cities as the legion of lawyers, bankers and accountants in the east and lower north shore was hit by the global financial crisis.

This left the inner west along with Warringah and Pittwater with the strongest rises in land values in the year to last June.

Four of the top five worst performers in 2008-9 were among the city's priciest land areas. Woollahra turned a 24 per cent rise in the previous year into a 5.4 per cent decline, and Randwick slipped 3.6 per cent after the previous year's 10 per cent rise. In Waverley land values are flat after surging 21 per cent a year earlier.

Even though Woollahra posted the largest decline of any part of Sydney, it has maintained its lead over Mosman as the city's most expensive market. Median land values of $1.23 million are down from $1.3 million a year earlier, but still comfortably ahead of Mosman, which was steady at $1.2 million.

Across the state, land values rose only 0.18 per cent, compared with 3.3 per cent a year earlier.

''While it is difficult to generalise, ... overall land values have barely changed in 12 months,'' said the NSW Valuer-General, Philip Western.

The broadly flat movement in land values will be welcomed by property investors, who were hit in the 2008 mini-budget by a rise in land taxes to 2 per cent from 1.6 per cent for properties valued at more than $2.25 million.

Along the coast, land values fell but Byron Bay remained the most expensive at $297,000, followed by Kiama at $285,000 and Gosford ($230,000).

CBD property values fell by the largest amount since the collapse of the early 1990s, with the 12.5 per cent drop in land values largely due to the financial downturn, Mr Western said.

''In late 2008-early 2009 this impacted particularly on the Sydney CBD with a number of larger corporations reducing their employee numbers and consolidating their office space,'' he said.''

Previous Next

Share This Article




Previous Articles