Adelaide’s battler ‘burbs were the big winners of 2024’s housing market, as affordable addresses dominated the list of the city’s top performing areas.
Davoren Park took out top spot for the year as its $502,368 median house value rose $109,841 (28 per cent), while prices in Elizabeth North rose by 27.6 per cent (up to $484,996), followed by Elizabeth Park, Elizabeth East, and Elizabeth Downs, where prices are up 27.4 per cent, 27.2 per cent and 26.9 per cent respectively.
New figures from PropTrack show the next five top performing areas were dominated by markets with median prices below $560,000 – $235,000 below the city average of $795,000 – starting with Elizabeth South, where a typical house now costs $526,868 after a $111,322 (26.8 per cent) jump in the past year.
Elizabeth also outperformed with a $120,231 (26.2 per cent) lift, followed by Smithfield Plains and St Marys, which both gained about $100,000 as their median prices rose 25.5 per cent and 25.2 per cent respectively.
SEE THE FULL LIST OF SUBURBS BY HOME VALUE CHANGES
However, looking at quarterly figures for December, it was lifestyle suburbs that experienced the biggest jump in prices.
Kingscote on Kangaroo Island recorded the biggest increase at 10.3 per cent, with the average house now selling for $20,742 more than it did a year ago.
Closer to Adelaide, it was Belair, Aldgate, Bridgewater, Crafers and Stirling that experienced price rises between 6.2 per cent and 7.8 per cent.
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4 Victoria Ave, Unley Park sold in August 2024 for a whopping $12.5m.
PropTrack economist Anne Flaherty said buyers were likely to experience further price growth in the year ahead.
“I think we’re likely to continue to see price rises in Adelaide but nowhere near to the levels that we saw them grow in 2024,” she said.
“That’s because, over the next coming years, we’re going to transition to a market where we have a much healthier balance of supply and demand and when that’s the case, you don’t see home prices rise that rapidly.”
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Coonbar, a sprawling five-bedroom mansion at 7 Edwin Tce, Gilberton also sold in 2024 for and eye-watering $8.8m.
However, Ms Flaherty admits the median priced home was still out of reach for many.
“Even though we did see home prices dip in December, it is still an incredibly difficult time, especially for first homebuyers, to get into the Adelaide market,” she said.
“We actually saw the median price of a home in Adelaide overtake the median price of a home in Melbourne in November.
“Another thing in SA…is that we’ve seen far more growth in investor activity than what we’ve seen in first homebuyer activity…as they have been competing (against each other) as they often target very similar kinds of properties.
“So when you see more interest from one type of buyer, that creates increased competition and then pushes up prices.”
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42 Rossall Rd, Somerton Park – also known by many as the “James Bond house” sold for $5.9m after less than two weeks on the market.
Turner Real Estate CEO Emma Slape said continuous home price growth meant more first home buyers were forced to compromise.
“We have definitely seen more first home buyers purchase and occupy a unit,” she said.
“Five years ago, most first home buyers were focused on a house as their first buy, but now, a unit is a realistic entry point and is still an excellent investment for the longer term.”
Stella Monteleone who, along with her partner Dale Hopkins, is selling the family home at 45 Tay Rd, Woodforde, said she was happy to hear of her suburb’s solid growth.
Woodforde, which is located just 15 minutes from the CBD in the Adelaide Hills foothills, is among a range of lifestyle suburbs to have experienced double digit growth in 2024.
According to PropTrack, prices in the leafy suburb increased by 13.9 per cent over the past year, with buyers now paying $127,567 more than a year ago.
Stella Monteleone and Dale Hopkins at their Woodforde home. Picture: Ben Clark
Ms Monteleone said Woodforde offered families with the perfect near-city lifestyle.
“We have lovely families (neighbours) that we’re all connected with. We have barbecues together in each other’s homes and it’s a very mixed-culture neighbourhood,” she said.
“It’s a great community and we’re so close to the city, yet it’s not very well recognised and people are often surprised and think we’re in the country.”
Ms Monteleone said 45 Tay Rd — which is being offered to the market for the first time since the seventies – had been fully renovated and included a pool, six bedrooms, three bathrooms and multiple indoor and outdoor entertainment spaces.
The home is for sale via Expression of Interest through Liam McDevitt of Ray White Walkerville who believes the home’s locality is its main drawcard.
“It’s not that far from the city, just 15 minutes, it’s unbelievable…and that’s what’s attracting a fair bit of interstate interest.”
