Hobart resists national slowdown as rents, tight supply steady market

The Hobart property market remains more buoyant than most of the rest of the nation, which experts say is being underpinned by strong rental growth and healthy yields.

According to property analyst Cotality, dwelling values edged up by a slight 0.1 per cent in the month of July, behind only Darwin, at 0.8 per cent, and grew by 1.4 per cent over previous quarter.

“The numbers are still strong at open homes, it’s just taking buyers a bit longer to make a decision,” said Matthew Chugg, Director, Elders Real Hobart.

“The negative press from around the rest of the country is having an impact, but having said that, we’re still transacting as the numbers would suggest.”

Mr Chugg said the market had definitely slowed but relatively few listings and strong rental growth was supporting the market.

“Listings are down about 25 per cent, with low stock levels, so that’s helped hold our prices up here in the Hobart market,” Mr Chugg told Australian Property Investor Magazine.

“But the depth of the market’s probably not there like it was 12 months ago.”

According to Cotality, over the past 12 months, Hobart house prices have grown by 9.5 per cent, to a median of $805,165.

The median price of a Hobart unit price grew by 8.1 per cent over the year, to $587,863.

At the same time, rents have soared.

House rents in Hobart grew 8.3 per cent over the year to 31 July, behind only Darwin, where house rents surged 11.3 per cent.

For units, rents increased 6.9 per cent over the year, behind only Darwin and Perth.

Mr Chugg said Hobart vacancy rates were “very, very low”, further helping underpin healthy yields in the southern capital.

“We achieve good yields here in Hobart, probably some of the best in the country.”

Although experts are predicting an increase in stock after winter, as sellers seek to list as the weather improves.

“From about October I think there will be an influx of stock,” Mr Chugg said.

But that was also typically a period of higher demand.

“Mainland people usually make the decision (to buy) between October and December, setting up kids’ schooling etcetera for the following year, so there’s many drivers that can change things very, very quickly,” he said.

Capital growth hotspots

In Hobart, the city’s north-west has seen the strongest dwelling price growth in the year, up 15.3 per cent to a median of $669,998; followed by Sorell-Dodges Ferry, up 15 per cent to $717,332; and Brighton, up 11.8 per cent to $656,422, according to Cotality.

Over the past ten years, Hobart dwelling values increased by 94.4 per cent.

New Canstar data shows that the average owner-occupier loan size in June 2026 quarter in Tasmania was $516,000, the lowest of all state and territory capitals. That figure was down 1 per cent over the quarter but up 7 per cent on an annual basis.

In the rest of Tasmania, the growth was even stronger, with the median dwelling value increasing 120.5 per cent over the decade.

Outside Hobart, the best performing region was Central Highlands, with median dwelling values up 16.3 per cent to $488,722.

That was followed by Burnie-Ulverstone in the west and north-west, with prices up 15.3 per cent to $584,984.

In Launceston, prices grew 15.1 per cent over the past year, to a median dwelling value of $675, 864.

Greg Fall, Director, Fall Real Estate, which operates nine offices in Tasmania’s south, said the normal annual winter slowdown made it difficult to determine the current underlying state of the market.

Spring would be a key litmus test, as stock levels increased.

“You have a bit of a dam wall in winter,” he told API Magazine.

“The listings pile up and then it warms up a bit and then the dam wall breaks.

Many owners typically held of listing until after winter.

“If you imagine yourself being the owner of a property, when would you want to put your property on the market?

“You go for when the flowers are coming out and it starts to get warner.

“Presentation is better so there’s a tendency for more listings to come on around that time,” Mr Fall said.

Positive outlook for capital growth

Mr Chugg of Elders said the Hobart market was typically about 70 per cent local purchasers, 15 per cent mainland purchasers and 15 per cent investors, although investors had recently largely dried up.

“Probably 12 months ago, we were getting multiple offers and investors were absolutely rife and now they’ve pretty much disappeared,” he said.

But a shortage of stock, healthy yields, and workers arriving for Hobart’s new $1.13 billion Macquarie Point stadium would help underpin the market, with the outlook remaining positive.

Historically, Tasmania had also avoided the major booms and busts of other parts of the country.

“Tasmania seems to be a bit of safe haven to property values,” Mr Chugg said.

“Historically we don’t have the massive booms or the massive busts here either.

“Normally our bust is a flat market; that’s generally how it rolls here,” he said.

As for the outlook, Mr Chugg said he considered the next 12 to 24 months would be “positive”.

“I think there will still be some room for capital growth over that time,” he said.