Hobart and Adelaide the capital cities with most property under $400,000: RP Data

Hobart is the capital city where investors are most likely to pick up a property cheaply, according to new analysis by RP Data.

Close to three-quarters (70.9%) of all house and unit sales in Hobart over the year to August were sold below $400,000, with Adelaide ranking second (58.7%) followed by Brisbane (43%) and Melbourne (36.4%).

Only a third (30.3%) of all Sydney sales were below $400,000 with Canberra ranking last with around a quarter (22.5%) below this benchmark.

The results for Hobart are not surprising, given the city had a median house price of $340,000 based on sales over the September quarter, according to the Real Estate Institute of Tasmania (REIT).

According to the REIT, the cheapest Hobart suburb is the fringe suburb of Risdon Vale, on the eastern shore of the River Derwent, where the median house price was $181,000, based on eight sales over the quarter.

The Tasmanian capital city also accounted for highest proportion of house and unit sales below $200,000, with 12.9% of sales priced below this point.

Source: RP Data

Recent sales in Hobart below $400,000 include this attractive 1880s-built two-bedroom cottage (pictured below), which sold last month. A price has not been disclosed, but it was advertised “in the high $200,000s” and last sold for $73,500 in 1991. It sold through Ant Manton of Ray White Central Hobart. The property is bordered by walls on two sides called an “Arthur Wall” arrangement, an architectural feature used by the first settlers to extend their food growing season into winter by creating a 'warm micro-climate' between the surrounding walls.