An idyllic seaside town on the NSW South Coast has seen unit prices plunge in the biggest statewide drop outside of Sydney.
Like Byron Bay, Kiama also experienced a pandemic-era market boom as metropolitan buyers looked to the coast, with the town’s median house value reaching a record high of $1,729,307 in May 2022.
The latest Domain House Price Report shows Kiama’s median house price has grown 22.2 per cent higher in five years and 2.4 per cent in 12 months.
However, its median unit price has dropped 11.3 per cent since September last year to $940,000 , marking the steepest unit price fall in regional NSW.
In the Kiama-Shellharbour area, which includes the urban area directly south of Dapto-Port Kembla, unit prices also fell 1.2 per cent in the September quarter.
However, amid a housing market downturn being felt across the country , local agents say it’s actually the town’s more affordable homes that are proving the hardest to move.
First National Coast & Country agent Abbey Murphy says the bulk of her unit sales this year have been at the higher end of the market. One of several luxury apartments that recently sold at the Kove complex on Bong Bong Street fetched $3.875 million in February .
On the other hand, she says the more affordable end of the unit market has been particularly slow.
8 Pheasant Point Drive, Kiama NSW 2533
“Under $1 million has been quite slow and then in that higher end, where people might not be as deeply affected by the things happening in the world … we’ve still had pretty good success,” she says.
“But it really depends on the product; things that are priced well are still moving, so it’s just a matter of meeting the market.”
Murphy says a slowdown in holiday buyers, a major part of the Kiama market, has likely been the biggest local change.
“[The Kiama market’s] still feeling good; it’s a pretty resilient market, supply and demand-wise, so things are still moving. It’s just taking that little bit longer and a lot more price sensitive than it was,” she says.
Ray White Kiama agent Robert Moore says he has noticed similar drops in unit and house values and says there is “nothing untoward” about the Kiama market.
204/10 Bong Bong Street, Kiama NSW 2533
“There’s nothing to do with it being isolated to Kiama specifically,” he says, adding that market dynamics have been affected by the five interest rate rises over the past six to eight months, legislative changes to capital gains and depreciation, and the subsequent erosion of the investment market.
“There’s nothing untoward or concerning in Kiama’s local market that’s having a massive effect, like a huge oversupply or something along those lines; it’s just the broader marketplace and … I suppose, what’s happening globally.”
Hodder & Borg agent Laurie Johnston says the real estate industry has been “labour-intensive” across the board, as properties remain on the market longer.
However, she says Kiama has seen “pretty remarkable results” this year, including both sides of a waterfront duplex selling for just under $4 million each .
“If people have got the time and the patience and they understand that they’ve just got to be patient to get that right price, you get there,” Johnston says.
“So, in the Kiama market, we’ve actually had some really amazing results at the same time as, unfortunately, maybe some people taking some price drops.”
Matt Hampson Matt is a Residential News Reporter based at Domain's Sydney office. He writes about the housing market and property issues impacting renters, mortgage holders and Australians hunting for their next, or first,
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