This article is from the Australian Property Journal archive
THE New South Wales suburb of Paddington has the highest share of homes built before the 1900s in the country, with Australia’s oldest homes potentially presenting unique insurance challenges.
According to Budget Direct’s home insurance quote data, NSW has the greatest share of old homes at 42.30%, with Victoria following closely behind at 34.05%.
Queensland comes in at 9.2%, South Australia at 8.41%, Tasmania at 3.57%, Western Australia at 2.16% and the Northern Territory at just 0.05%.
“We’ve all heard the phrase the older the better. Well in this case we certainly acknowledge that homes in these suburbs have stood the test of time,” said Jonathan Kerr, Budget Direct’s chief growth officer.
In terms of NSW suburbs, after Paddington’s 2.39% share of homes built prior to the 1900s, comes Newtown with 1.58%, Surry Hills at 1.37%, Balmain at 1.29% and Redfern at 1.14%.
Meanwhile Queensland has the highest concentration of aged houses, with six of the country’s top 10 oldest homes.
In South Australia, the Adelaide suburb of Torrensville boasts the oldest homes on average, with an average age of 87.8 years old.
Queensland’s Ipswich follows, with an average home age of 82.6 years. While homes in Victoria’s East Geelong came in at 81.1 years old, Queensland’s East Toowoomba at 79.3 years and NSW’s Clovelly at 78 years.
In terms of insurance, the age of a property can be a factor, particularly if a home is classified as a heritage-listed dwelling.
On the other hand, the Queensland suburb of Banya is filled by Australia’s youngest homes, with an average home age of 6 months old.
