Surry Hills Real Estate Up 8.4%, New #1 Agent Weighs In

The Surry Hills property market has gone from strength to strength in recent years. After another strong 12 months of growth, the median house price has gone up 8.41% to $2.005 million to the end of September 2021. At the forefront, an agent long-renowned for his sales activity in Redfern has become Surry Hills’ #1 Agent.


Read : Surry Hills Median House Price Hits $2-Million Mark


A lot has been happening around us.

It confirmed what locals already knew, highlighting the constant demand to move to the area, keeping house prices buoyant.

Surry Hills has officially been voted into the top 20 coolest neighbourhoods in the world. (You didn’t know? Click here to read about it.)

At the same time, Sydney saw a trend through Covid for people to move into larger houses. While the typical Surry Hills terrace has a footprint of 100-200 square metres (not huge by the rest of Australia’s standards), these properties offered inner-city residents a lot of spatial options during the pandemic — from living spaces over two storeys, to urban backyards, rear-lane studios and more.

Amid all this activity, Charles Touma of the Ray White Touma Group has been selling more homes than any other local agent. When he sold 3 terrace houses in one weekend recently, he stepped into that #1 spot.

Screenshot: realestate.com.au

Having been #1 in neighbouring Redfern for many years, Touma’s success in Surry Hills increased during lockdown. The government mandates for one-on-one property appointments meant he was personally introducing clients to every home. Some of them had never even considered Surry Hills.

Screenshot: realestate.com.au

Read: 3 Things You May Not Know About the Adam Goodes Mural in Surry Hills


Touma Talks

We’ve been following Charles for his “Touma Talks” series, where he focuses on the stories of Surry Hills and Redfern in a number of videos.

Touma Talks has covered an eclectic mix of stories in a series of videos that gives interesting anecdotes about people and places that shaped their suburb.

Some of the highlights are:

The Perkal Brothers used to ply their trade at 386 Crown St. Their best client was Kerry Packer but they also serviced two Queens.

The Worst Woman in Sydney Episode was a cracker? She operated out of Landsdowne Street, Pearl Street, and Devonshire Street.

Riley Street and surrounds became notorious as a hotspot for Sydney’s underworld for at least two decades.

Other local stories include one on Foster Lane, where there was once a highly secretive local venue called ‘Thommo’s Two-Up School.’ Oh to be a fly on the wall back in the day!

Also, have you heard about the pub that never opened on the corner of Arthur and Alexander Streets?

And did you know that AC/DC’s Bon Scott broke his ankle over on Cleveland Street?

There’s certainly no shortage of Local Legends for Touma to feature in the series.

Despite the likelihood of increased interest rates in 2022, Touma expects demand for terrace houses close to Sydney CBD to continue.

Surry Hills Median House Price Hits $2-Million Mark

With its strong fundamentals and riding off the back of a bullish Sydney property market, Surry Hills hit the $2-million median house price mark during the 12-month period ending September 2021. 


Highlights

  • The median house price of Surry Hills grew by 8.41 per cent between October 2020 to September 2021.
  • The unit market also grew by 3.13 per cent, with 440 units sold during this period.
  • With its strong fundamentals, the Surry Hills property market is projected to keep rising as Sydney eases off its lockdowns. 

House Price Growth

Over the past year, the Sydney property market has seen a distinct upward trajectory in median house prices, increasing by just under a thousand dollars a day, as homeowners take a second look at the lifestyle their property provides. Buyers, unable to travel, have been spending their cash on upgrading their home or choosing a new one.

Surry Hills has already been a strong performer, managing a rise even during the 2018 doldrums when the median house price fell a hefty -9.9% Sydney-wide. With its strong fundamentals, Surry Hills showed a median uptick of 8.41 per cent between October 2020 to September 2021. This growth has pulled the median house price to just above the $2-million mark at $2,005,000 from $1,850,000 in the previous year, per figures from Property Market Updates.

There were 130 properties sold during this period, listed within an average of 46 days on the market. Buyers preferred three-bedroom houses the most (44 sold), although two-bedroom homes were snapped up faster, at a brisk 31 days.

Photo Credit: Property Market Updates

The sale of a renovated luxury terrace on Riley Street, which closed for over $5 million, highlighted the substantial value of acquiring a Surry Hill property. This four-bedroom home, with a mix of preserved original details and high-end features, was priced at just under $2.5 million when it last sold in 2016. 

Unit Price Growth

Not to be left behind, the unit market in Surry Hills also logged a growth of 3.13 per cent. Although that may seem modest. the median unit price is now just a shade shy of the seven-digit mark, at $990,000. There were 440 units sold within an average of 42 days on market. 

Photo Credit: Property Market Updates

Industry experts believe that Surry Hills will continue to pick up post-COVID as Sydney eases off from the lockdowns and life settles into the new normal. Currently, buying trends show a distinct preference for more space, with a lot of buyers opting for a sea-change or tree-change from inner-city living, due to large amounts of time spent indoors during lockdown periods. 



Within this period, hospitality businesses also temporarily closed, students were barred from moving in, and culture or lifestyle events were cancelled — the very facets that defined what living in Surry Hills is all about. 

Despite this, investors, first home buyers, and young professionals have been driving up the Surry Hills property market, seizing the moment to capitalise on the changes. With its high liveability, exceptional convenience, and proximity to business and cultural hubs, Surry Hills and similar choice neighbourhoods in the inner city that enjoy strong fundamentals have historically been insulated from city-wide softening of prices.

About Surry Hills

Surry Hills is Sydney inner city’s food and culture mecca with hundreds of small businesses lined up on its leafy streets, back alleys, and laneways. This suburb has an interesting, eclectic mix of residents from high-earners and professionals working in the CBD five minutes away to the long-term locals who have witnessed the gentrification of the suburb, to the migrants who have been bringing their culture to enrich the community. 

Photo Credit: Google Maps

Just as interesting are its wide ranges of dwelling options  — from terrace houses to converted warehouse lofts, to large apartment blocks in old or refurbished buildings or brand new builds. 

Several residents get around by biking or walking to work or school, shops, venues, and community hubs. However, there are also plenty of transport options like buses, trains, and the tram that make Surry Hills such an accessible area. 

Surry Hills is home to an award-winning city library across the beautiful Shannon Reserve Park on Crown Street. Residents enjoy the benefits of quality childcare and education from facilities like the Sydney Boys and Sydney Girls High Schools and the Australian Institute of Music



“Surry Hills has been gentrified but for the most part hasn’t lost its uniqueness. It’s home to people from all walks of life. I moved back to Surry Hills 3 years ago and have been pleasantly surprised by the level of neighbourliness.”

Good Life

“I lived for 3 years in Surry Hills and it was great. You can walk to Central station and get to literally everywhere in Sydney. Just a short stroll to the CBD so you can walk or cycle to work every day. Vibrant, very active streets full of cafes, restaurants, pubs and shops so it’s definitely a place for young people. Super diverse, inclusive, great demographic mix and multicultural. Located in the heart of Sydney it’s rather dense yet there are no horrible tall buildings as in the CBD.”

UD