The Illawarra housing market has defied Sydney's falling trend in housing values, a leading analyst says.
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Domain’s June Quarter 2018 House Price Report was released this week.
The report’s year-on-year figures indicate the change in the median house and unit prices over the year to June 30.
The report stated that houses in the Wollongong LGA had a median price of $760,000 as of the end of June.
This figure was $730,000 the same time last year; this represents a growth of 4.1 per cent over the past 12 months.
In the Shellharbour LGA, the median house price was $630,000, compared to $625,000 at the end of June 2017.
In the Kiama LGA, houses had a median price of $953,000 at the end of June 2018, compared to $830,000 at the end of June 2017.
This represents a growth of 14.8 per cent in the past 12 months.
Wollongong units reached a median price of $555,000, compared to $526,000 at the end of June 2017.
Domain data scientist Dr Nicola Powell said tighter lending standards, the availability of credit and reduced investor activity have weakened the national housing market performance, with Sydney and Melbourne the hardest hit.
“The Illawarra housing market defied Sydney’s negative annual growth with values across the Kiama, Wollongong and Shellharbour LGAs showing growth over the past year,” she said.
“However, tighter lending conditions and serviceability requirements have seen the pace of growth slow.
“The peak rate of growth has passed and given the overall lending environment this trend is likely to continue.”
As for individual suburbs throughout the Illawarra, Kiama houses had a median price of $920,000 at the end of June.
The suburb recorded a year-on-year price growth of 16.5 per cent, and a five-year price growth of 81.5 per cent.
Port Kembla houses had a median price of $691,000; this is a 15.3 per cent year-on-year growth, and a five-year price change of 93.3 per cent.
In Warilla, houses had an median price of $560,000; a 14.3 per cent year-on-year growth and a five-year price change of 85.3 per cent.
The report’s other findings included that Sydney house prices recorded the largest annual fall since 2008.
The report revealed that house prices in Sydney fell 1.4 per cent over the June quarter, reaching a median of $1,144,217. This is the second consecutive quarter of house price declines for the city, with the median dropping 4.5 per cent year-on-year.
It also noted that Sydney had the steepest annual drop in unit prices since 2006.