Regional Sellers Chalking Up Profits

Regional sellers are chalking up profits more than their capital city counterparts.

Domain’s Profit and Loss report shows that while the percentage of resales during the quarter that generated a profit nationally dropped by 0.1%, the regions are still largely sheltered from the downturn.

In Regional Australia, 97.6% of sales generated a profit, compared to 97.3% of capital city sales.

Domain chief residential economist Nicola Powell says profitability in the regions outperforms the capitals in both house and unit markets.

Queensland is the strongest performing regional market, with 98.4% of house sales turning a profit, followed by New South Wales (97.5%), Tasmania (97.2%), South Australia (96.7%), Victoria (96.3%), Western Australia (95.2%) and the Northern Territory (78.4%).

Record median profits were recorded in Regional New South Wales, Queensland and South Australia house and unit markets. The Regional Western Australia house market and the regional Tasmania unit market also had record profits.

According to Powell, the majority of those selling their properties at a loss fell into two categories: investors willing to take the hit as a tax write-off and those forced to sell under financial pressure.

“It’s a timely reminder that property is about the long game, not getting distracted by the short-term fluctuations.”