Why Western Sydney came out best in price boom

HOMEOWNERS out west were the biggest winners of Sydney’s recent property price boom, new housing market analysis shows.

The research revealed prices in a range of Western Sydney suburbs grew at a faster pace than the Sydney average for the boom period between 2012 and 2017, with a large share of the city’s most popular suburbs during the period also based in the area.

Prices in the semirural suburb of Bringelly, between Penrith and Camden, more than tripled over the five years — the highest bump in prices across all of Sydney. A typical Bringelly house had cost $932,000 in 2012 and is now 248 per cent higher at $3.25 million, according to the CoreLogic research.

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Prices in Elizabeth Hills in the Liverpool area climbed 204.3 per cent — the second fastest rate of growth in Western Sydney. Kemps Creek and Bungarribee, both in Western Sydney also finished inside the top 10 best performing areas.

Outside of Western Sydney, infrastructure upgrades and a flow on effect from increasing Sydney prices saw Gosford come in second on the citywide list with growth of 227 per cent. Clareville near Palm Beach, Annangrove and Glenorie in the Hills Shire, and Homebush in the inner west were other notable big growers.

July 2017 is widely accepted as the end point of the Sydney boom, since it was the last time the city’s median home price grew. Prices stopped growing after that and have been falling for the past six months.

Prices in western suburbs surged for varying reasons.

Bringelly prices skyrocketed due largely to the announcement of a new airport at nearby Badgerys Creek. With one eye on the future, developers paid big bucks for large properties in the suburb with hopes of eventually cashing in.

Local agent George Bobb of Ray White-Bringelly said developers were reshaping the suburb. “The demographics and the infrastructure are changing rapidly,” Mr Bobb said.

He added that there are currently about 720 homes in the suburb, which is set to skyrocket when roughly 30,000 more homes get built in the South Creek West development and a further 5000 to 10,000 in other nearby areas.

Spending on transport has also increased, with a new train line between the airport and St Marys and upgrades to roads making the area more accessible. The transport upgrades will be accompanied by a $150 million business park at North Bringelly.

In 2017, Western Sydney was announced as one of the three cities that would be part of the Greater Sydney Commission’s three centres plan.

Realestate.com.au chief economist Nerida Conisbee said this announcement combined with the airport was a major benefit for areas like Bringelly and had a flow on effect to house prices.

“Government funding to make sure people can live and be employed supports population growth and in turn supports prices,” she said.

Outside of Sydney’s west, growth in Gosford and the Central Coast was spurred by house hunters looking for affordable lifestyle locations, while inner west prices were boosted by Millennials wanting easy access to the CBD.

“These are the three main pockets where there is solid growth and they are all being driven by slightly different factors,” Ms Conisbee said.

One of Sydney’s newest suburbs, Elizabeth Hills, offered a glimpse of what is to come for Bringelly.

With a current median price of $1.05 million, the suburb’s position close to Cecil Hills, city links and infrastructure has seen it take off in recent years.

“What drives the prices so high is that it’s a hidden pocket of new homes within a very friendly neighbourhood,” local agent Sam Ruisi of Raine and Horne-Wetherill Park said. “Liverpool as a whole has grown and this has created more opportunities in these areas.”