Newcastle Property Market Update May 2019

Buying vacant land and building your own home has always been a popular choice in the Hunter Valley, especially with family buyers looking for their first or new home with more room to move with kids in tow.

Speaking of house and land locations, we might just know the most popular location in our area. It’s just west of Newcastle located conveniently around Maitland. This area has been a popular choice with many buyers due to lower property prices compared to the Newcastle areas and the availability of larger size blocks, which is exactly what you’re looking for when the family grows.

There are many types of house and land locations around the Hunter Region and it would take some time to discuss them all at great length, but for this piece we are going to concentrate on the surrounding suburbs of Maitland, namely the suburbs of Chisholm, Thornton, Gillieston Heights and Cliftleigh.

Let’s start with Chisholm, one of the more popular locations. Population indicators from RP Data state that in 2011, the population was 357 people. By 2016, the population had grown by 312 per cent to reach 1,471 people. The median house price currently is $630,000 and the median land price is $250,000. You can expect to see a number of properties selling for over the median with many recently selling between $750,000 and $800,000. This price bracket gets you on average a four-bedroom property with landscaping already established. On average, you can find land ranging in size from 450 to 700 square metres. Land values range from $240,000 to $320,000 (source: RP Data, 2019).

A four-bedroom, three-bathroom and three-car garage with extras and established landscaping sold in Chisholm for $702,000 in February 2019.

The next suburb of Thornton, which was established prior to Chisholm, had a population size in 2011 of 7,861. By 2016, the population had increased to 8060, an increase of 2.4 per cent in the five years. Currently the median sale price for Thornton is $510,000. Land sizes range from 400 to 600 square metres and land values range from $190,000 to $250,000.

Gillieston Heights is located more to the south of Maitland and to the north of the township of Kurri Kurri. In 2011, the population was 1,372 and in 2016 it has risen 128.9 per cent to 3,141 within the five years. The current median price for houses is $490,000 with land size ranging from 400 to 600 square metres. Land values range from $165,000 to $230,000.

A recent sale in Gillieston Heights of a four-bedroom, two-bathroom and two-car garage with open plan living and established gardens was $485,000 in February 2019.

Cliftleigh is the furthest south of Maitland and has a closer proximity to Kurri Kurri. It sits to the south of Gillieston Heights. It has probably had the biggest growth in the past five years, increasing by 375.4 per cent from a humble 183 people in 2011 to 870 in 2016. The current median price is $407,000 with land size ranging from 400 to 650 square metres. Land values range from $165,000 to $230,000.

Construction costs range in price depending on the size of the build and the chosen finishes. On average, the price is around $1,800 per square metre, but this can range from $1,500 to over $2,000 per square metre for high-quality finishes plus the additional ancillary improvements such as landscaping and driveways.

At the end of the day, it comes down to what the buyer wants: where they want to live, what type of dwelling they want to inhabit and the quality of finishes they would like to have in their brand-new home. The other important factor is how much they are willing to spend to create their humble abode. (All data from Core Logic, 2019).

Speak with a Newcastle Mortgage Broker today.