State of Markets - SA August 2012

SOUTH AUSTRALIA

Fast figures

• -2.2%: Change in total number of units approved in South Australia in April (Australian Bureau of Statistics)
• $4.56 billion: Expenditure on domestic tourism in South Australia in the 12 months to March 2012 (National Visitor Survey)
• 0.8%: South Australia’s growth rate from 2011 to 2012 (Australian Bureau of Statistics)

Adelaide high-end properties buck trend
While high-end properties have not generally been performing well in the current subdued market, Adelaide appears to be bucking the trend.

According to recently released statistics from the valuer-general, as well as the latest figures from RP Data, the top 20 per cent of Adelaide’s suburbs have only declined by 4.6 per cent in the past year.

This is in contrast to the average for the combined capital cities, where prices in the same high-end suburb bracket have dropped by 5.7 per cent.

However, Elise Partington of Toop & Toop Real Estate said South Australia’s middle market has seen prices fall by over 5 per cent, and by even more at the other ends of the market.

“In fact, Adelaide’s most affordable suburbs were among the weakest performers over the year nationally,” Ms Partington said.

Fund established to drive SA regional growth
In a move likely to please investors, the South Australian Government has established a regional development fund to drive growth in the regions.

On 1 July 2013, the $3 million per annum merit-based grant program will get underway to help grow employment, attract investment and facilitate new projects and programs.

Two program streams underpin the fund, with $1.4 million dedicated to regional communities, supporting growth through the non-metropolitan Regional Development Australia (RDA) initiative.

Meanwhile, $1.6 million will be dedicated to leveraging funds to advance competition in these areas through boosting manufacturing and other priorities, including help in realising the benefits of the mining boom.

Each non-metropolitan RDA can access between $50,000 and $200,000 worth of grant funding under the scheme.