ALMOST every suburb across Newcastle and Lake Macquarie has recorded a drop in house prices since the beginning of spring last year.
However, there are a handful that bucked the trend, with nine suburbs across the region recording a lift in their median house price in the past 12 months.
According to a new report from CoreLogic, suburbs of Lake Macquarie outperformed those with an increase in median house values in the Newcastle region, with Dudley, Wangi Wangi, Rathmines, Bolton Point and Arcadia Vale all showing some of the strongest growth.
Houses in Wangi Wangi experienced the biggest rise in median values up 4.2 per cent compared with one year ago, while its neighbouring suburbs of Arcadia Vale (up 0.6 per cent) and Rathmines (up 0.4 per cent) also recorded growth.
Craig Avery from Avery Property Professionals said house value growth in the East Lake Macquarie area was underpinned by a shortage of stock.
"Stock levels seem to be what is driving these things over the last 12 months," Mr Avery said.
"The demand is there but there is very low stock in this area which is driving prices up. Buyers are waiting for properties to come onto the market but they just haven't."
Sydney buyers tapped into the property market in Wangi Wangi during the pandemic and it's a trend that has continued.
"Wangi is that little bit closer to the freeway so it's not surprising that it has had such growth," he said.
"Sydney has shown a lot more interest in Wangi since Covid kicked in."
The median house value in Wangi Wangi is $890,554.
The median house price in Bolton Point is up 1.2 per cent along with Dudley ( up 1.1 per cent), Teralba (up 0.4 per cent) and Wyee (up 1.9 per cent).
In the Newcastle region, Elermore Vale led the change in median house values up 4.1 per cent alongside Fletcher (up 2.7 per cent) and Shortland (up 0.7 per cent).
Only suburbs with a minimum of 20 sales were included in the analysis.
The suburbs that saw the biggest fall in house prices in the past 12 months include Redhead where the median house price was down 9.5 per cent, Speers Point ( down 9.0 per cent), Marks Point (down 8.3 per cent), Swansea (down 7.9 per cent), New Lambton (down 7.3 per cent) and Eleebana (down 7.2 per cent).
So, is now a good time to buy in these suburbs?
Steve Georgalad from LJ Hooker said a fall in the median house value in areas such as Swansea and Marks Point offered an ideal time to buy in suburbs that offered high growth potential.
Houses in Marks Point currently hold a median value of $855,530 and Swansea has a median value of $887,124, according to CoreLogic.
"Marks Point is an area that I'm a big advocate for," Mr Georgalad said.
"It's a great little suburb and now that prices have come back a little bit it's definitely time to buy in those places, especially for a suburb like that where there is such a vast array of price difference.
"Your bottom end of the market for a three-bedroom house is somewhere between $650,000 and $750,000 but your top end prices for a waterfront are $3.5 million, if not more.
"There is definitely lots of growth potential there."
Mr Georgalad said he expected the suburbs in East Lake Macquarie with falling values to bounce back quickly.
"The East Lake Macquarie market is very resilient," he said.
"If we do see a drop, it's only for a short period of time and it does come back."
As for unit values in Newcastle and Lake Macquarie, just five suburbs recorded growth over the past 12 months.
Elermore Vale topped the list with a rise in the median house price of 3.6 per cent followed by Newcastle (up 2.8 per cent), New Lambton (up 1.4 per cent), Warners Bay (up 0.6 per cent) and Wallsend (up 0.2 per cent).
Suburbs with the biggest fall in unit median values in the past 12 months were Belmont (down 14.9 per cent), Charlestown (down 8.8 per cent), Shortland (down 6.4 per cent), Mount Hutton (down 6.1 per cent), and Adamstown (down 5.9 per cent).
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