Revealed: SA’s top suburbs for value growth and loss this year

It’s no secret house prices across Adelaide have gone ahead in leaps and bounds over the past year, prompting cheers from homeowners and tears from those whose hopes of entering the market have been dashed over and over again.

But who have been the biggest winners this year?

According to PropTrack data, house owners in Elizabeth South have the biggest cause for celebration, with the suburb’s median house price increasing a whopping 56.7 per cent over the past year to $470,000.

This is up from a $299,936 median this time last year.

South Brighton house owners should be similarly happy, with prices up 52 per cent from $884,868 last year to a current median of $1.345m.

Davoren Park in Adelaide’s north, and Woodside in the Adelaide Hills and Munno Para, again in the north, all recorded value growths of more than 35 per cent, notching up rises of 39.1 per cent, 37.5 per cent and 36.6 per cent respectively.

Edge Realty agent Eric Jem – who was recently recognised at the Annual REA Group Excellence Awards for selling the most residential properties of any agent – said the northern suburbs had been SA’s star performer, particularly since house prices boomed in the pandemic.

“The house price growth out here over the past few years has been quite extraordinary, and while it used to be that anyone really could afford to buy here, there are first homebuyers who are even finding themselves priced out of the area,” he said.

“The main reason for this growth is that a lot of the stock out here used to be existing older homes which were competitively cheap.

“A lot of these have been replaced with newer homes, and that’s on top of the huge number of newer homes out here anyway, all of which carry a higher price tag because they’re more desirable and also because it costs a certain amount to build new these days.”

He said increased investment in the area through things like education, retail and medical hubs had been a strong drawcard for families, who were the main buyer group in the area, as well as investors.

“There’s a lot here for younger buyers looking to make a life here,” he said.

While the northern suburbs were well represented in the top sales list for houses, they were absent from the top growth list for units.

Aerial view directly above established houses in older Adelaide southern suburb

SA home prices have grown strongly over the past 12 months.

Somerton Park, on Adelaide’s western coastline claimed top spot here, with unit values up 44 per cent from $472,222 to $680,000.

This growth was streets ahead of the second-placed Findon, where unit prices were up 28.7 to a $608,000 median.

Bowden, Payneham, Ascot Park and North Adelaide units all recorded growth in excess of 27 per cent.

In terms of potential bargain suburbs to target where home values have declined over the past year, well there are only a few options for you.

In terms of houses, only one suburb has experienced a drop in median house price – Norwood.

Here values have dropped 8.9 per cent to $1.348m.

House prices have performed strongly in recent years.

According to the data, North Adelaide’s median price remains unchanged for the year, still sitting at the same $1.35m it was at this time last year.

As far as units go, median prices have dipped in just two suburbs – Glenelg, where they’ve dropped 5.5 per cent to $600,000, and Campbelltown where they’ve dropped 1.6 per cent to $483,000.

Harris Real Estate’s Henry Gower Tillett, who has sold 16 homes in North Adelaide and three in Norwood over the past 12 months according to realestate.com.au, said the statistics required some context.

“What we are seeing here in Norwood is a collection of lower-priced sales for the past 12 months being compared with a collection of higher-priced homes over the previous 12 months,” he said.

Life ... But Not As We Know It series - real estate

Harris Real Estate agent Henry Gower Tillett with househunter Emma Johnson. Pic Roy Van Der Vegt

“Sure, the current median price is lower in comparison, but that should not be interpreted as a loss in value – we’ve seen a lot of two-bedroom sales over the past year, compared with some larger three and four-bedroom homes the previous year.

“There’s certainly still a huge amount of interest in both of these areas, with homes selling in days in some instances.

“Regardless of the data, homes here are still great buying and I would expect to see strong growth going forward.”

Biggest rise in median over the past 12 months – Houses

Suburb	Change in median sale price since last year	Median sale price
Elizabeth South	56.7%	$470,000
South Brighton	52.0%	$1,345,000
Davoren Park	39.1%	$469,000
Woodside	37.5%	$825,000
Munno Para	36.6%	$560,000
West Lakes	33.6%	$1,180,000
Gawler South	32.3%	$635,000
Smithfield	31.9%	$521,000
Prospect	31.3%	$1,244,000
Plympton	31.2%	$985,000

Biggest rise in median over the past 12 months – Units

Suburb	Change in median sale price since last year	Median sale price
Somerton Park	44.0%	$680,000
Findon	28.7%	$608,000
Bowden	27.8%	$620,000
Payneham	27.2%	$509,000
Ascot Park	27.1%	$572,000
North Adelaide	27.0%	$610,000
West Lakes	24.0%	$672,000
New Port	22.5%	$422,000
Mawson Lakes	21.7%	$460,000
Glenelg East	20.4%	$620,000

Biggest drop in median over the past 12 months – Houses

Suburb	Change in median sale price since last year	Median sale price
Norwood	-8.9%	$1,348,000
North Adelaide	0.0%	$1,350,000
Moana	0.1%	$780,000
Littlehampton	0.9%	$798,000
Torrensville	3.1%	$990,000
Angle Vale	4.3%	$730,000
Lockleys	4.5%	$1,150,000
Hawthorndene	4.6%	$860,000
Brompton	4.8%	$786,000
Hectorville	5.2%	$842,000

Biggest drop in median over the past 12 months – Units

Suburb	Change in median sale price since last year	Median sale price
Glenelg	-5.5%	$600,000
Campbelltown	-1.0%	$518,000
West Beach	1.6%	$483,000
Glenside	2.3%	$550,000
Camden Park	4.4%	$460,000
Adelaide	4.7%	$518,000
Glenelg North	6.8%	$636,000
Parkside	7.0%	$615,000
Salisbury	7.1%	$375,000
Norwood	7.6%	$790,000