Housing costs low despite big increases

Housing costs on the Peninsula remain comparatively low, despite some big rent and house price increases.

Rents have increased over the year to June by around 13.3 per cent or $40 a week on three-bedroom homes in the 2257 postcode area to a median of $340 a week, according to figures released by the Department of Housing.

The figures show an increase over the year to March of 28.7 per cent in the median sales price of dwellings in the 2256 postcode area to $390,000.

However, the figures also show rents and house prices on the Peninsula remain below the state average and on a par with Gosford as a whole.

Including both flats and houses, the figures showed two-bedroom rentals in the 2256 area at $270 a week (up 8.0%) and in the 2257 area at $260 (up 4.0%).

This compares to the median for the Gosford municipality of $270 (up 8.0%) and the NSW figure of $350 (up 7.7%).

Three-bedroom homes in the 2256 area were $330 (up 4.8%) and in the 2257 area were $340 (up 13.3%), compared to Gosford at $340 (up 6.3%) and NSW $350 (up 9.4%).

The median figures for Sydney's Greater Metropolitan Region were $410 (up 5.1%) for two-bedroom homes and $420 (up 7.7%) for three-bedroom homes.

The figures for sales of dwellings showed a median price of $390,000 (up 28.7%) in the 2256 postcode area and $375,000 (up 11.9%) in the 2257 area.

These compare to figures of $385,000 (up 10.0%) for Gosford as a whole, $418,000 (up 4.1%) for the State, and $460,000 (up 18.3%) for the Greater Metropolitan Region.

The rent figures were based on bond lodgements with the Office of Fair Trading over the year to June, while the sales prices were derived from land transfer notices lodged with the NSW Land and Property Information division for contracts signed in the year to March.

Website, 25 Aug 2010 Housing NSW