The below table highlights the five suburbs in each capital city with the largest average land area based on sales over the 12 months to February 2019. It also shows the median value of these suburbs and the change in median values over the year.
One thing that is immediately noticeable from this data is the fact that the annual change across these suburbs for houses is typically superior to that across the broader capital cities.
In Sydney, house values have fallen by -11.5% over the 12 months to February 2019. Looking at the five suburbs listed, only Kenthurst has recorded a weaker annual change.
Melbourne house values are also -11.5% lower over the past year and all of the suburbs listed have seen more moderate value falls than that across Greater Melbourne.
Brisbane house values were -0.4% lower over the past year and two of the five suburbs have seen a stronger annual change.
The 0.9% annual increase in Adelaide house values means that four of the five suburbs listed have seen stronger value growth over the past year.
Perth house values are -6.7% lower over the past year with four of the five suburbs listed recording either value increases or more moderate declines than -6.7%.
Greater Hobart house values were 6.8% higher over the past year and three of the five suburbs listed have recorded growth in excess of that.
House values in Darwin increased by 0.2% over the past year and three of the five suburbs with the largest average land sizes recorded greater value increases than that.
While Canberra house values increased by 4.1% over the past year, only two of the suburbs listed recorded growth in excess of this.
Although this data broadly shows that suburbs with larger average land sizes are holding up better in the housing downturn, it also highlights that many buyers value larger land sizes. As new development increasingly moves toward higher densities and smaller lot sizes for houses, large housing lots are likely to continue to be highly desirable. The desirability won’t just come from more space but also in some instances they will be desirable because of the potential for sub-division in the future.