Sellers in Newcastle and Lake Macquarie gross $496 million profit over March quarter

CoreLogic's Pain and Gain report reveals that nearly all homeowners across the region who sold dwellings (units and houses) in the March quarter earned a profit.

In Newcastle and Lake Macquarie, 98 per cent of transactions sold for gains and pocketed sellers an average of $377,000.

Owners held on to their homes for a median period of 9.2 years, with the combined total gains across the region totalling $496,900,153 over the March quarter.

Only two per cent of homeowners who sold over the last quarter recorded a loss.

Homeowners who recorded a loss held onto their home for a median period of 3.6 years and lost an average of $65,000.

Gains and losses were on par in the Hunter Valley (excluding Newcastle) with 98 per cent of sellers recording a profit with a median gain of $295,000 after holding onto their home for an average of 8.1 years.

Overall, the region recorded $329,924,757 in profit from sales over the March quarter.

Two per cent of sales recorded a loss at an average of $60,000.

Nationally, the report shows the portion of dwellings that made a nominal gain from resale declined for the third consecutive quarter to 92.3 per cent from a recent high of 94.2 per cent in the three months to May 2022.

However, CoreLogic head of research Eliza Owen said the gains from residential resales in Australia remain substantial overall and the rate of loss-making sales was relatively contained at a national level.

She said the decline in profit-making sales had broadly coincided with the national housing market downturn, which likely moved through a trough in February 2023.

The March quarter report analysed approximately 76,000 resales, with the number of loss-making sales increasing 4.6 per cent over the period.

The number of resales declined 6.5 per cent compared to the December quarter.

Ms Owen said in the past few months, the level of profitability has deteriorated at a faster pace than in the previous quarter, despite the rate of decline in home values easing.

"As you would expect, changes in the portion of profit-making sales tend to move together with the capital growth trend," she said.

"So, it's unusual to see a sharper deterioration in profits through the March quarter, when prices were starting to stabilise.

"This could be linked to more short-term selling."