Adelaide is the only capital city market with new record high house and unit prices, bucking a national downward trend, according to the latest report from real estate company Domain.
According to the report, Adelaide property prices have continued to rise since December 2021, with a minor increase in the past four months.
Houses in Elizabeth South, Elizabeth North and Croydon Park experienced the highest price growth during the last quarter, along with units in Glenelg North and Kurralta Park.
Adelaide home owner Jessica McHugh said she feels lucky to have landed a house for asking price in early 2021, after a year of navigating a highly competitive market.
Before this, Ms McHugh, who is eight months pregnant, was living with her partner in his two-storey townhouse.
"We still have so many friends who are saying they're trying to get houses in other suburbs or close by and it's just so expensive," she said.
"We got in when we did, and if we didn't, we wouldn't be able to afford a house.
"Every other house was easily a $120,000 more than what we actually got our house for, in the end."
The Domain report found the fall in house prices eased slightly across other capital cities over the past four months, although Sydney and Canberra saw their steepest annual decline to date.
Ms McHugh said it is a relief the Adelaide property market has stayed relatively stable, especially as her family grows.
"If we were seeing the market go down, we would be starting to get worried," she said.
"We'll probably need a bigger house when we have more children, so we'd definitely be looking."
For other homebuyers, like Rhys Vertue, the trends in Adelaide's housing market are not front of mind.
He said it was a long and frustrating two years of looking before finding a house with his wife in July last year.
"Shelters are basic requirements for humans, so it doesn't really matter what the price does, when you've only got one home," he said.
"If we were to sell it, we'd just have to buy again.
"If we were investors and we had at least one investment property then we'd see the benefit from it."
Investors capitalise
Real Estate Institute of South Australia CEO Andrea Heading said interstate investors and South Australian expats were drawn to the state's real estate market, because it offers a "bang for your buck".
"Someone who was priced out of the market in Melbourne bought here, and bought a parcel of land at Moonta Bay," Ms Heading said.
"Comparing what the market looks like in South Australia to interstate, it's awesome buying for them.
"The whole trend of investment buyers looking back towards South Australia as an investment opportunity is great news for people looking to sell their home."
Ms Heading said it was buyer demand combined with the low supply of properties that was still increasing Adelaide house prices.
"For the last quarter of the last year we had sales that were down," she said.
"There's less out there but people are prepared to pay a little bit more."
The Adelaide median house value last month was $702,392 – a 43.4 per cent increase since the start of the pandemic.
This comes as a report found Adelaide rents had risen by 12 per cent in the year to September 2022, while also having the lowest vacancy rates among capital cities.
Ms Heading said the market was also affected by certain suburbs becoming more lucrative because of developments in amenities and infrastructure, while others were returning to pre-pandemic house prices.
"We find that as homebuyers are coming in and out of the market and are looking at trading up or moving down, there's particular areas where it's more competitive," she said.
She said rental affordability also affected supply and demand in the housing market.
"I think there's still what we call the rental crunch, and it's still a big supply problem from that perspective."
