Thornton-Millers Forest topped Housing Industry Australia’s Population & Residential Building Hunter Hotspots report list for 2018.

A “hotspot” is defined by the association as an area where population growth exceeds the national rate (1.6 per cent in the year to June 2017) and the value of residential building work approved is in excess of $50 million. 

“Thornton-Millers Forest is the Hunter region’s number one hotspot this year due to $82.8 million in building approvals and population growth of 5.3 per cent,” HIA Hunter executive director Craig Jennion said.

The area has also recorded strong price growth in recent years. A report by PRD Nationwide real estate showed Thornton’s median house price went up more than $100,000 between 2014 and 2017.

At the end of 2017, the median price of a Thornton home was half a million dollars.

Meanwhile, Ashtonfield also recorded a massive price rise according to a study by Aussie Home Loans and CoreLogic.

Ashtonfield finished fifth in the joint study of the top 20 Hunter suburbs for value growth over the last 25 years.

The Aussie/CoreLogic 25 Years of Housing Trends report found that the median house price in Ashtonfield grew from $59,450 in 1993 to $568,000 in 2018 – an annual increase of 9.4 per cent and total rise of 854.7 per cent.

In comparison, Sydney’s average rise was 7.6 per cent per annum.

Aussie CEO James Symond said the report showed that housing continued to grow as Australia’s largest asset class with many Hunter home owners achieving strong value growth in the last 25 years.

The average owner occupier loan size in NSW increased approximately in line with property values, with the typical loan size now $445,500 or 6.4 per cent per annum higher since 1993.

Mr Symond said average mortgage rates were similar to their record low levels of the 1960’s but that housing affordability remained a major challenge across NSW.

“Household incomes haven’t kept pace with rising property prices,” he said.

“This is demonstrated by shrinking first home buyer numbers from 18.5 per cent in 1993 to 14.2 per cent in 2018, while investors have taken a far bigger slice of the pie, up from 18.8 per cent to 50.2 per cent over the same period,” he added.

Mr Symond said there had been five property cycles in the past 25 years and expected the pattern of cyclic growth to continue.

“If the changing face of residential property and staggering growth of technology we have seen over the last 25 years continues, it’s likely the next 25 years will produce even greater change,” he said.