Geraldton records one of best rental yields in Australia

Geraldton has been marked as one of the best performing regional cities in Australia for rental yields in a win for the landlord but a loss for the tenant. The latest quarterly regional report from CoreLogic, which analyses Australia’s 50 largest non-capital city significant urban areas, reveals a 43.7 per cent surge in house prices in Geraldton over the past five years to a median of $361,377. There has been a rise of 2.8 per cent in the past quarter alone. The research reveals homes in Geraldton are on the market for an average of 48 days, with the percentage of vendor discounting the asking price down 4.4 per cent in the past 12 months. This time last year, homes had the same number of days on market. By November 2023, 1151 houses had been sold in Geraldton, 0.9 per cent more than one year ago and 45 per cent above the five-year average for the area. This nearly more than doubled the figure recorded in 2019, when around 500 houses were sold. Of the homes sold, 45 per cent were in the $200,000 to $400,000 price bracket, 31.7 per cent were in the $400,000 to $600,000 bracket and 7.3 per cent between $600,000 to $800,000. WA also dominated the list for highest annual rental growth, with four markets recording a rise of more than 10 per cent over the year. Those markets were Bunbury, up by 14.8 per cent, Busselton, up by 12.7 per cent, Geraldton, up 12.1 per cent, and Albany, up 11.2 per cent. Geraldton median rental prices have increased 12.1 per cent in 12 months, hitting $461 per week, a quarterly rise of 3.1 per cent. This is a 50.9 per cent increase on the figures from five years ago, which had a median price of around $230 per week. Gross rental yield, or the total annual charge to a tenant, in Geraldton is currently sitting at 6.5 per cent, an increase on the 5.9 per cent recorded at the same time the year before.