Home owners in Narrawallee and Tathra have seen some of the biggest price gains along the NSW coast since COVID, with home values up nearly 60 per cent in both suburbs.
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New data released by property analyst CoreLogic shows how dwelling values - which includes units and houses - in coastal suburbs have changed since March 2020.
In the Capital Region, which spans Batemans Bay down to Eden, home values in Tathra experienced the biggest increase between March 2020 and December 2023.
Values increased 58.8 per cent in that time to a median of $784,607.
In the 12 months to December 2023, while most other areas saw home prices fall, values in Tathra rose 9 per cent.
Narooma had the second highest growth in home values in the four-year period, up 51.3 per cent to $722,462.
High-profile buyers have seen the appeal of Narooma in recent years, including Justin Hemmes who heads up hospitality empire Merivale.
Mr Hemmes, who in 2015 splashed $6.7 million on a waterfront property in the suburb, now owns four hospitality venues in Narooma.
Meanwhile, Harvey Norman chairman Gerry Harvey reportedly set a suburb record in 2022 when he purchased a Narooma property for between $9 million to $11 million.
Further south, Merimbula home values have risen 50.2 per cent since COVID began to $697,196, CoreLogic data found.
Broulee, which has the highest median home value in the Capital Region at $942,915, recorded a 50.1 per cent rise in property values during the four years.
All other suburbs in the region recorded growth in home values of at least 36 per cent.
Batemans Bay values rose 45.1 per cent to a median of $608,776 while Bermagui values rose 47.1 per cent to $834,687.
A home in Bermagui broke the suburb record in late 2023 when it sold to a top banking executive for about $11 million.
Narawallee tops the list in Shoalhaven
In the Shoalhaven region, which spans Berry to Bawley Point, Narrawallee led the home price boom.
Property values in the suburb rose 59.6 per cent over the four-year period to a median of $1,146,017. Prices continue to rise and in the three months to December 2023, values were up 9.6 per cent.
The recent boom coincided with the sale of a waterfront home at Narrawallee, which set a suburb record when in sold for $12 million in October.
Bawley Point and Vincentia recorded strong growth too, up 56.5 per cent and 53.7 per cent since COVID respectively.
A holiday favourite among Canberrans, Mollymook Beach experienced a 50.8 per cent rise in home values to $1,066,014. Meanwhile values in neighbouring Mollymook were up 43.7 per cent to $1,036,719.
In the 12 months to December, Burrill Lake recorded the strongest growth in the region, with home value rising 10.8 per cent.
Less 'glamorous' suburbs see strong growth
After significant price growth during the pandemic, almost all Capital Region coastal suburbs analysed by CoreLogic recorded a decline in values during 2023.
Meanwhile in Shoalhaven, five out of the 12 suburbs analysed recorded a drop in prices in 2023.
Prices in nearly all the suburbs across the two regions peaked in 2022.
CoreLogic's analysis for 368 coastal markets across Australia found home prices in one in three suburbs were still at a record high in December 2023.
CoreLogic research director Tim Lawless said the suburbs that saw the strongest price growth in 2023 all had a median value well below $1 million.
Bouvard in Western Australia topped the list, with prices rising 28 per cent in 2023 to a median of $560,138.
"The performance of those with the largest gains and the highest growth rates are not the glamorous hot spots that rose to prominence during COVID," Mr Lawless said.
"Suburbs in areas such as Western Australia and more northern regions of Queensland where it's still possible to make a sea change for less than $1 million were the strongest performers last year."