Demand for homes in Hobart is surging, as more families struggle to compete for a place to live while high-end buyers flock to the market.
Last weekend, a West Hobart property had 61 groups to an open inspection with 16 written offers taken and a Lenah Valley house had 65 potential buyers through in one day.
Real Estate Institute of Tasmania president Russell Yaxley said that type of competition was unusually high for Hobart standards.
“That sort of buyer interest happens when supply is low and the property is priced [well],” Yaxley told Pulse.
He described the current market as stronger and more settled than 2025, when buyers remained cautious.
“Now we are seeing quicker decisions and more consistency in results rather than stop start momentum,” Yaxley said.
The West Hobart property had 4,288 online views according to Petrusma Property managing director Sam Towns.
“It definitely points to a strong desire for city properties at good prices,” Towns said.
“There’s plenty of people asking high prices for houses that are just sitting there but the moment the price is right everyone’s on it.”
Towns said first-home buyers were driving much of the activity.
“I would definitely say the first-home buyer market is particularly strong – they’re able to get subsidies up to $750,000 which means anything that fits under that is hot property,” he said.
Elders Tasmania’s residential sales head Mathew Chugg said one of his agents recently “spent more time managing people” at an open home rather than showing people around because the demand was so strong.
“We haven’t seen numbers like that for some time. So that was an outstanding turnout,” he said. “There seems to be an energy in the market.”
He said Hobart was attracting interest in the high-end market as well.
“We had an asset in Hobart recently with an offer between six and eight million,” he said.
“People are still prepared to spend money here in Hobart. We’re finding that this is becoming a bit of a destination, especially with all the events in the world at the minute.”
“Why wouldn’t you?”
