How your suburb fared: surging prices in Hunter's hot property market

Dwelling values in the region have hit a record high, according to CoreLogic's national home value index released on Monday.

It showed the median price of all houses and apartments sold in Newcastle and Lake Macquarie last month jumped two per cent from $665,033 in March to $675,599 in April.

The latest figures from property analysts CoreLogic show dwelling values - houses and apartments - in the region were up 7.8 per cent in the past three months and 16.1 per cent in the past year.

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Eliza Owen, head of research for Australia at CoreLogic, told the Herald the growth in the Newcastle market in the past quarter had been "extraordinary".

"Initially, through COVID, there were these factors of lifestyle markets being appealing for relatively low levels of density," Ms Owen said. "The sense of escape from the city and the normalisation of remote work making a sea change to Newcastle and Lake Macquarie more realistic.

"But I think it's changing now. I think that people are just seeing increased affordability constraints across the Sydney market, so whether or not they may want to go back to cities, I think that is actually becoming less of a reality for people."

Ms Owen said it was good news for sellers but the property market was becoming harder to get into for both buyers and renters due to affordability constraints.

In the three months to April, national home values rose 6.8 per cent, which is the highest quarterly dwelling growth rate since December 1988.

Suburb-by-suburb data supplied by CoreLogic to the Herald showed the median house price for Merewether had hit $1.5 million. In the past three months Merewether house values had risen 11.7 per cent and 22.9 per cent in the past year.

The $7.25 million sale of a beachfront home at 38 John Parade in Merewether set a real estate record for the region last September. It was marketed by PRD Newcastle and Lake Macquarie and surpassed the previous highest mark of $7 million, paid for Jesmond House at 10 Barker Street, The Hill in 2008.

At the time PRD founding director Mark Kentwell said the sale "shines the spotlight on the entire region" and predicted more big results to follow.

Merewether was one of over 30 suburbs in the region whose house value prices had risen by more than 20 per cent in the past 12 months.

Windale had the biggest 12-month change in index value with a rise of 10.5 per cent in the past three months and 28 per cent in the past year to a median house value of $565,426.

Daniel Irwin, of Altitude Real Estate Warners Bay, sold a two-bedroom home on an 838 square metre block at 11 James Street, Windale on Wednesday for $527,500 and observed increased investor interest in the suburb he described as "a sleeping giant".

"That property is a part of blue corridor that was rezoned from low density to median density and that has really propelled a lot of people," Mr Irwin said. "It was on the market for one week with a Saturday and a Wednesday open then there were three people competing. They were all investors with future plans for the land."

Redhead had the highest three-month change in index value with a rise of 14.9 per cent and a 12-month change of 26.1 per cent to a median of $1.092022 million. The other biggest 12-month changes in index value came in Jewells (27.2 per cent), Kahibah (25.6 per cent), Dudley (25.6 per cent), Highfields (25.5 per cent), Cardiff (25.1 per cent) and Cardiff South (25.1 per cent).

Several suburbs across Newcastle and Lake Macquarie have broken new ground with record results in the past year, including the $1.452 million sale of a four-bedroom house at 31 Beath Crescent in Kahibah in March.

Ray White Newcastle and Lake Macquarie's Teresa Heighington marketed the property and said Kahibah was proving an increasingly popular suburb for buyers.

"People are starting to see Kahibah for what it is," Ms Heighington said. "It's got a nice community feel through it, they still can get a decent-sized block and they realised they're so close to everything. Those things are attractive. It's got a nice vibe and it's got a new generation coming through."

Kahibah's house values rose 9.1 per cent in the past three months to a median value of $742,470.

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