Tasmania’s Property Market Turned the Corner in 2024 as First Home Buyers Returned

Tasmania’s residential property market moved from “the doldrums of 2023” to a stronger-than-expected 2024, according to the Real Estate Institute of Tasmania’s December quarter report, released on 4 March 2025.

The state recorded 9,771 property transactions worth $5.96 billion in 2024. Sales rose by 976, or 11.1%, and their total value climbed 10.7% to the second-highest level on record. This happened despite cost-of-living pressures, slower population growth and no interest rate relief during the year.

Buyers came back

The REIT said 2024 saw a growth in confidence among first home buyers, investors and mainland buyers looking to get in before prices rebounded. A total of 1,954 first home buyers purchased in Tasmania during the year, an increase of 25.3% and the highest participation rate since 2009. The year also brought the state’s new stamp duty exemption for first home buyers of established homes valued up to $750,000, which applies to settlements from 18 February 2024.

Investor purchases rose 25.9% to 1,288. The institute attributed the rise to higher mainland prices, which made those markets less affordable than Tasmania, although investor numbers remain well below the levels of five to 10 years ago. Mainland buyers made 1,571 purchases, up 47.9%, at a median price of $540,000. Of these, 458 were investors and 1,113 were moving to Tasmania to live. Only 37 foreign buyers purchased in the state.

Prices steady, momentum building

Across the state, 6,875 houses sold in 2024 at a median price of $600,000, just $5,000 lower than in 2023. Greater Hobart’s annual house median rose $4,000 to $730,000 on 7.7% more sales. Launceston’s rose $10,500 to $560,500 and the North West’s rose $15,000 to $485,000.

The December quarter showed the turn more clearly. Greater Hobart recorded 510 house sales at a median of $745,000, up $30,000 on the September quarter. The typical time to sell a home in Hobart fell from 38 days a year earlier to 30. Sales above $1 million rose from 797 in 2023 to 848, the second-highest number on record after 943 in 2022.

Where the money went

• Most expensive suburb, December quarter: Battery Point, median $2,510,000.
• Next most expensive: Acton Park ($1,200,000), Sandy Bay ($1,072,500) and Tranmere ($1,040,000).
• Most affordable: Queenstown ($148,750), Smithton ($365,000) and East Devonport ($367,500).
• Most active suburb or town: Burnie, with 75 sales in the quarter.

Renters still squeezed

Rental conditions eased over the year, the REIT said, but a shortage of affordable stock at the lower end of the market remained. The median rent for a three-bedroom house was $550 a week in Hobart, $480 in Launceston and $420 in the North West centres.

REIT President Russell Yaxley said the market had clearly turned around in 2024. Activity levels had increased, and prices were coming under upward pressure. He said he was confident about 2025, and that the prospect of interest rate cuts would lift confidence for both buyers and sellers.