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December 11, 2008 12:00am THE Sydney property market's classic Tale of Two Cities has been re-written with a surprise twist - West is best while the East gets fleeced. A five-year trend of falling values in the outer suburbs and spectacular growth along the Harbour and coast has not only stalled but been completely turned on its head. Long-suffering homeowners in Sydney's southwest have falling interest rates and increased first homeowner grants to thank for ending their half-decade price slide. And the global financial crisis has ended the golden run for homeowners in the Eastern Suburbs and Lower North Shore. Outer southwestern Sydney suburbs, such as Camden and Campbelltown, with house prices under the $500,000 mark are the biggest winners in the turnaround, with an average 1.1 per cent increase in prices over the past year. While the increase may seem small, it comes after years of negative growth and is in stark contrast to millionaire's row suburbs such as Woollahra, Waverley and Bondi where property prices fell an average 9 per cent. The latest figures, compiled by RP Data, reveal the south-west was the only non-beachside area to increase in property value over the past year, with the Sutherland Shire (0.4 per cent) and the Northern Beaches (2.4 per cent) also growing. RP Data's research analyst Cameron Kusher said it was a telling sign that the most substantial falls were in the city's most expensive market. "This further supports evidence which suggests that the global financial crisis has significantly harmed the traditional safe haven areas such as the Eastern Suburbs, due largely to forced sales and few buyers currently within the most expensive Sydney markets," he said. Jody Savage is only 19 but with historically low interest rates and a first homebuyers grant doubled to $14,000, she is convinced now is the time to buy in the southwest. |
