- No WA or NT suburbs made the list
- Half of the suburbs came from New South Wales
- Research considers the top 20 undersupplied suburbs
Headline puffery aside, while it is not completely impossible to purchase a property in some of these suburbs, it is still a challenge.
To do the research commissioned by HOOD.ai a bit more justice, the topic being addressed is more accurately described as the top 20 undersupplied housing markets in Australia.
Each of these twenty suburbs has under a month’s worth of inventory left.
What is inventory? It means that, if houses continue to sell at the current rate, how long will it take for there to be no houses left on the market.
HOOD.ai also noted that “When inventory levels are so low, the data can be very volatile,” as such, ‘under one month’ is used in lieu of a specific number.
Top 20 undersupplied house markets
- North Sydney, 2060
- Dapto, 2530
- Belmont, 3216
- Highton, 3216
- Conder, 2906
- Fairy Meadow, 2519
- Menai, 2234
- Evatt, 2617
- Stanmore, 2048
- Corrimal, 2518
- Amaroo, 2914
- Freshwater, 2096
- Kambah, 2902
- Collaroy, 2097
- Croydon Hills, 3136
- Cromer, 2099
- Bangor, 2234
- Largs Bay, 5016
- Salisbury Heights, 5109
- Flagstaff Hill, 5159
How have things changed?
The aforementioned HOOD.ai commissioned research found that inventory actually fell over the past year for 13 of the 20 markets in the above list. The remained under one month.
The company also said: “14 of the 20 markets are tightly held, with stock turnover levels at 4.8% to less.”
HOOD.ai CEO and founder Tommy Fraser explained the drivers of the situation:
“Part of the reason Australia has been experiencing a property boom is because stock levels have been low, which has forced buyers to compete harder and bid up prices.”
Tommy Fraser, HOOD.ai CEO and founder
“That story has really played out in these 20 suburbs, where inventory levels have been
incredibly low over the past year. As a result, the median house price of most of these
suburbs has experienced a double-digit percentage increase over the past year.
“Buyers desperately need new stock to come onto the market in all these suburbs, because, right now, they’re in a terrible bind. When a house comes onto the market, do they offer a fair price and risk missing out? Or do they do whatever it takes to win the property but overpay?”
The details
HOOD.ai’s data provided the following additional insights into markets:
| Rank | State | Suburb | Postcode | Inventory level March 2022 | Inventory level March 2021 | Median price |
| 1 | NSW | North Sydney | 2060 | Under 1 month* | 1.3 months | $2,400,000 |
| 2 | NSW | Dapto | 2530 | Under 1 month* | Under 1 month* | $737,000 |
| 3 | VIC | Belmont | 3216 | Under 1 month* | 1.6 months | $735,000 |
| 4 | VIC | Highton | 3216 | Under 1 month* | 1.3 months | $861,000 |
| 5 | ACT | Conder | 2906 | Under 1 month* | Under 1 month* | $880,000 |
| 6 | NSW | Fairy Meadow | 2519 | Under 1 month* | 1.7 months | $1,150,000 |
| 7 | NSW | Menai | 2234 | Under 1 month* | Under 1 month* | $1,405,000 |
| 8 | ACT | Evatt | 2617 | Under 1 month* | 1.1 months | $905,000 |
| 9 | NSW | Stanmore | 2048 | Under 1 month* | 2.5 months | $2,150,000 |
| 10 | NSW | Corrimal | 2518 | Under 1 month* | 1.2 months | $1,150,000 |
| 11 | ACT | Amaroo | 2914 | Under 1 month* | 1.7 months | $915,000 |
| 12 | NSW | Freshwater | 2096 | Under 1 month* | 1.1 months | $3,250,000 |
| 13 | ACT | Kambah | 2902 | Under 1 month* | Under 1 month* | $880,000 |
| 14 | NSW | Collaroy | 2097 | Under 1 month* | Under 1 month* | $3,750,000 |
| 15 | VIC | Croydon Hills | 3136 | Under 1 month* | Under 1 month* | $1,060,000 |
| 16 | NSW | Cromer | 2099 | Under 1 month* | Under 1 month* | $2,365,000 |
| 17 | NSW | Bangor | 2234 | Under 1 month* | 1.1 months | $1,510,000 |
| 18 | SA | Largs Bay | 5016 | Under 1 month* | 2.2 months | $696,000 |
| 19 | SA | Salisbury Heights | 5109 | Under 1 month* | 2.9 months | $515,199 |
| 20 | SA | Flagstaff Hill | 5159 | Under 1 month* | 1.9 months | $653,500 |
Final notes on the data
HOOD.ai said the research data sets initially considered all Australian suburbs subsequently filtering out suburbs that were more than 100 kilometres from a capital city, excluded suburbs with fewer than 1,500 houses or 0 property listings, and finally filtered out suburbs if it had more than 0.05% of houses currently listed for sale and their SA3 had an inventory level of more than 3 months.
