By David Turner AAPI

The Hunter property market has maintained stable growth trends throughout the first quarter of 2010, supported by a diverse employment base and sound housing affordability when compared with Sydney, making Hunter an appealing place to live.

Recent figures confirm the region’s strong performance showing that the median dwelling price is at its highest point in almost 10 years, benefiting significantly from the increase in values during the last 12 months alone.

Contributing to the region’s solid performance is the availability of land suitable for residential development. Since boom periods in 2003, vacant land sales have been slow with developers halting development of potential sites in response to the lack of demand.

However, during the previous 12 to 18 months, these major developers have released land in areas such as Chisholm, Aberglasslyn and Gillieston Heights, north of Newcastle, to satisfy increased demand from first and second home buyers, along with a smaller percentage of investors.

These developing areas are important to the region as they attract investment and infrastructure development, which further supports property values, as evidenced by major industrial estates Beresfield, Thornton and Rutherford.

While values are up, recent building figures for the region show that building approvals have declined with house and unit approvals down nine percent and 37 percent respectively. This reduction in approvals reflects buyer sentiment regarding foreboding interest rate increases and rising building costs.

For this reason many purchasers are likely to opt for the security of established property. One such suburb representing sound investment potential in 2010-11 is Charlestown.

Located only 10km south of Newcastle CBD and within 5km east of Dudley Beach, Charleston offers a range of development opportunities from older homes situated on large sites to more recently constructed homes in smaller subdivisions. The median dwelling price is estimated to be $358,000, representing a rise of 8.6 percent in only 12 months. The planned completion of the expansion of Charlestown Square in October will add significantly to the appeal of the area, evidenced by significant commercial and high rise unit development already completed in the preceding 12 months.

Inner city suburb Carrington, located 5km west of Newcastle CBD and fronting the Port of Newcastle, is another promising prospect to watch closely. Offering a diverse range of period terrace and narrow frontage single dwellings as well as modern units, Carrington boasts a central location with a variety of real estate suitable for renovation and extension. Offering good affordability, Carrington’s median price is estimated to be $296,000.

Newcastle’s residential rental market has performed notably showing an increase up to 15.9 percent for a 3 bedroom dwelling over the previous 12 months. Inner suburbs Charlestown, Mayfield and Cardiff all recorded a median weekly rent between $320.00 and $330.00, representing a rise of between 10.3 - 13.8 percent in a year. Recent figures from the New South Wales Real Estate Institute show that vacancy rates in Newcastle fell 1.5 to 1.9 percent in February 2010 creating exceptional conditions in the local market for investors.

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