The median house price in Maitland has gone up by six per cent over a 12 month period to $520,000.

PRD Nationwide Hunter Valley licencee Luke Anderson and Tony Cant sales manager James Rodrick both said they had noticed the rise and expected the trend to continue this year.

Both said that as Newcastle residents are priced out of the market, many have looked down the highway to the eastern suburbs of Maitland such as Thornton, East Maitland and Ashtonfield.

“The gap between Maitland and Newcastle is becoming increasingly smaller,” Mr Rodrick said.

But there is movement out in the west as well. Investors from Sydney are looking at places such as Aberglasslyn and Rutherford to add to their portfolios.

Mr Rodrick said 60-70 per cent of investors who buy through Tony Cant are from Sydney, and the return on investment here is 4.8-5 per cent compared to two per cent in the state capital.

“The investors are driving the market,” he said.

Mr Anderson said they had received a lot of interest from a very thin strip in Sydney’s west, from Kellyville to Penrith, where retirees were looking to maintain big blocks but save a bit of money.

Mr Rodrick said he expected to see greater interest in Kurri Kurri, due to its close proximity to the Hunter Expressway.

“It hasn’t seen a lot of movement, but we’re starting to see it now,” he said.

But he said Thornton will be the big interest suburb this year, where the number of days on market has significantly dropped.

Mr Anderson said the number of days on market had also dropped a lot for PRD, from 90 to about 40.

He said the Maitland local government area usually had 600-700 houses for sale at one time, but at the moment it was about 290 excluding land.

“There is a real under-supply and that only ever means one thing, prices will go up,” he said.

“The Maitland market is about to boom.”

Mr Anderson said he expected an entry level house at East Maitland to cost as much as $500,000 “very soon”.