Free market report · Data to July 2026

Southern Midlands property market

Southern Midlands is one of the 453 council areas we track on the Momentum Dial, our property clock. This page is the plain-numbers read: where it sits in the cycle, who lives there, what's being built, and the suburbs inside it.

Southern Midlands is home to 6,987 people. On the Buyers First Momentum Dial its house market currently reads at Peak, and units read the same. Here's the rest of the picture, in plain numbers.

Houses · cycle position

Peak

The Southern Midlands house market is growing at its fastest pace in the current cycle. That is a momentum reading, not a crash call: markets can sit at peak growth for a long time before easing.

-5% to +13%

Modelled 12-month price range

+2.0%

Modelled 12-month rent change

Units · cycle position

Peak

The unit market is growing at its fastest pace in the current cycle. That is a momentum reading, not a crash call: markets can sit at peak growth for a long time before easing.

-8% to +15%

Modelled 12-month price range

0.0%

Modelled 12-month rent change

At a glance · houses

$749,098

Typical house, August 2026

+5.8% a year since 2010

+7.7%

Growth a year, last 10 years

+5.9% a year over the last 5

$568

Rent a week

3.9% gross yield

2 of 15

Years prices fell since 2010

Worst: 2012, -1%

The clock measures growth momentum, not price. Peak means growing fastest, not about to fall. Cycle data and projections sourced from HtAG Analytics. See Southern Midlands on the clock.

Free · One per person

Want all of this written up for Southern Midlands?

The full report is this data as a written document, plus the current price, rent, yield and growth on one suburb inside Southern Midlands, and the numbers that cut against the area. I write them by hand, so it comes from me rather than out of a system.

Leave your details and I'll get in touch about it myself, by email or phone, usually within one business day. It comes from dan@buyersfirstagency.com.au, and it lands in junk more often than it should, so check there if you don't see it. You'll also go on the Market Pulse mailing list, one email a month on where the market is actually heading. Unsubscribe whenever you like, and I never pass your details to anyone else.

The numbers, explained

Southern Midlands in charts.

The typical house in Southern Midlands went from $292,090 in 2010 to $749,098 in August 2026. That is +156% in total, +5.8% a year. 2 down years out of 15, never more than 2 in a row. Cycles, not collapses.

Houses · price change each year · 2011 to 2026

Prices in Southern Midlands fell in 2 of the last 15 years

Okay
-0.7% '11 -0.8% '12 '13 '14 2015 '16 '17 '18 '19 2020 23.3% '21 '22 '23 '24 2025 4.7% '26 ytd

+156%

Since 2010

+7.7%

Per year, last 10 years

2 of 15

Years going backwards

-0.8%

Worst year (2012)

What this shows. How much the typical house price in Southern Midlands went up or down each year. Teal bars are up years, red bars are down years, and the faded bar is this year so far.

Why it matters. The size of a good year matters less than how many bad years there were and whether they came in a row. Boring? Absolutely. But the length of the down stretch is what decides whether you get out the other side. Typical price at December each year, data from HtAG Analytics.

You don't need to know property to read this. Every chart below opens with the point in one line, then says what it shows and why we care. Teal is a good sign, amber is okay, red means watch it.

The scorecard · 7 things we check

Southern Midlands scores 23 out of 35. Solid.

Good sign
Cycle 2Down years 3Supply 3People 4Jobs 5Affordability 1Rentals 5 5 = best
Where it is in the cycle

prices are rising as fast as they will this cycle, so the easy money has been made

Years prices fell since 2010

2 of 15 years

New homes being built

1.6 new homes approved per 100 that exist

People moving in

population growing 1.0% a year

Jobs

2.7% unemployed, Australia 4.2%

Can locals afford it

a house costs 9.1 years of a local household's income

Empty rentals

0.3% of rentals are empty, so about 1 in every 100

What this shows. Seven quick checks on Southern Midlands, each scored out of five. Five is the reading we most want to see.

Why it matters. No single number tells you whether an area is a good buy. Together they show whether the pieces line up. These are bands, not rules: a council outside a band can still be the right buy for the right person, and one inside every band can still be wrong for you.

House prices since 2010 · Southern Midlands vs the 5 most similar councils in TAS

Southern Midlands has grown in step with similar councils over ten years

Okay
$193k $386k $579k $772k Southern Midlands $715k 20102012201420162018202020222024
Southern MidlandsSimilar councils (middle of 5)

+5.9% vs +7.1%

A year, last 5 years

+7.7% vs +7.6%

A year, last 10 years

+6.3% vs +5.9%

A year, last 15 years

What this shows. The typical house price in Southern Midlands every year, in teal, next to the middle of the five councils in TAS closest to it in size and starting price: Dorset, Kentish, Break O'Day, George Town, Circular Head. The small "vs" number in each tile is those councils.

Why it matters. Growth here is the regional story rather than a local one. Nothing wrong with that, it just means you are buying the region.

Momentum · the last 36 months

Prices in Southern Midlands are picking up speed right now

Good sign
$643k $706k $768k 0 37 sold September '23March '24September '24March '25September '25March '26
Last 3 months' priceLast 12 months' priceHouses sold each month

$746,036

3-month price, August 2026

+2.5%

3-month price vs 12-month price

223 vs 265

Houses sold, last 12 months vs the 12 before

What this shows. Two versions of the same price. The dotted teal line averages the last three months, so it reacts fast. The grey line averages the last twelve, so it moves slowly. The bars are how many houses sold each month.

Why it matters. The last three months are running ahead of the last twelve. That is what speeding up looks like before it shows in the yearly number.

New homes · approvals as a share of all the homes here

New homes in Southern Midlands are keeping pace with the people

Okay
balanced · 1.5% to 3% a year above this, a lot of building 1% 2% 3% 4% 5% 2.1% FY24 · 59 approved 1.6% FY25 · 44 approved 1.6% FY26 · 44 approved · now

What this shows. For every 100 homes already in Southern Midlands, how many new ones the council approved each year. The teal band is the range we call balanced.

Why it matters. New homes are arriving at about the pace the population absorbs them. Balanced. The home count is the population divided by the average household size, so treat the rate as a guide rather than a census.

Affordability · house price in years of local household income

A house in Southern Midlands costs 9.1 years of a local family's income

Watch this
expensive · over 8 years stretched · 6 to 8 years affordable · under 6 years 6.3 2016 6.1 2017 6.0 2018 6.5 2019 7.3 2020 8.7 2021 9.3 2022 9.0 2023 9.0 2024 9.0 2025 9.1 2026 so far

What this shows. Take the typical house price and divide it by what a typical household here earns in a year. A bar of 7 means seven years of the whole household's income buys one house.

Why it matters. Expensive for the people who live here. Prices at this level need outside buyers to keep moving, and outside buyers are the first to leave when things wobble. Income is the 2021 Census figure carried forward at 3.5% a year, so it is an estimate, not a measurement.

Rents · typical weekly house rent, last 36 months · and how many rentals sit empty

Rent in Southern Midlands is $568 a week, up 7.0% in a year

Good sign
$451 $526 $602 $568 a week now September '23March '24September '24March '25September '25March '26

$568

A week, August 2026

+7.0%

Change in the last year

0.3%

Rentals sitting empty (tight)

What this shows. What a typical house in Southern Midlands rents for each week, month by month. The empty-rentals number is the share of rental homes with nobody in them: under 1.5% is tight, over 3% means tenants have plenty of choice.

Why it matters. Rents rising faster than inflation means more people want to live here than there are homes to rent. That pressure eventually shows up in prices.

Rental yield · a year of rent as a share of the price, Southern Midlands vs similar councils

Rent covers 3.9% of the price each year in Southern Midlands

2.7% 3.6% 4.6% 202120232025
Southern MidlandsSimilar councils

What this shows. Yield is simple: a whole year of rent divided by the house price. A $500,000 house renting for $500 a week earns $26,000 a year, which is a 5.2% yield.

Why it matters. About the same as similar councils. Rent and price are in proportion. We don't buy on yield alone and we never set a yield cut-off; it is one piece of the picture, next to growth.

The people

Who lives in Southern Midlands.

The population has grown a steady +1.0% a year over the last five years. The growth is mostly homegrown, births outrunning deaths, rather than people moving in. Softer as a demand signal. The median age is 44 and the median household brings in $1,332 a week (Census 2021). 82% of households own or are paying off their home. Owner-occupier markets like this tend to hold their nerve through the cycle, because nobody is forced to sell an address they live at.

Population · ABS estimates 2015 to 2025

Southern Midlands is growing steadily: 6,987 people, up +1.0% a year

Okay
6,096 6,987 201520202025

6,987

People, 2025

+1.0% vs +0.8%

A year, last 5 years · typical TAS council

+1.4%

A year, last 10 years

Why it matters. Steady growth is enough to keep demand ahead of supply, as long as building stays sensible.

Where the growth came from · last 3 years

Growth in Southern Midlands is homegrown: births outran deaths by 61

Okay
Births minus deaths
+61
Moved from elsewhere in Australia
+16
Moved from overseas
+12

Net change: +89 people over three years.

What this shows. Three ways a place gains or loses people: babies born minus people who died, people who moved here from another part of Australia, and people who arrived from overseas. Bars to the right add people, bars to the left take them away.

Why it matters. Births outrunning deaths is the softest kind of growth. It adds people, but it does not add new households straight away.

Age and households · Census 2021

Southern Midlands is about the same age as the typical TAS council: median age 44

Typical age
Median age 44 vs 46
People per household 2.5 vs 2.3

Southern Midlands Typical TAS council (middle of 28)

Why it matters. A mixed-age area has demand for most housing types, which makes it easier to sell to whoever the next buyer is.

Income and who owns the homes · Census 2021

Most homes in Southern Midlands are owner-occupied: 82% own or are paying off, 13% rent

Owner market
Household income a week $1,332 +7% vs typical
Who lives in the homes 82% own · 13% rent

Own or paying off Renting Other

Why it matters. Owner-occupier markets hold their nerve through the cycle, because nobody is forced to sell the address they live at.

New supply

What's being approved to build.

44 dwellings were approved in FY26, 44 of them houses. Approvals have been roughly steady year to year. On the non-residential side, $12 million of building was approved in FY26, $8 million of it public money. Governments build where they expect people. Within that, $7 million of education and health buildings have been approved across the last three financial years. Schools and hospitals are the most honest signal governments give about where they expect families.

Homes approved · ABS, by financial year

Building in Southern Midlands is steady: 44 homes approved in FY26

Okay
FY24
59
FY25
44
FY26
44

Houses Units, townhouses and other

44

Homes approved, FY26

100%

Of them houses

1.6%

New homes per 100 that exist

What this shows. How many new homes the council approved each financial year, split into houses and everything else. Approved is not built, but it is the earliest warning of supply on the way.

Why it matters. Enough building to house the newcomers without flooding the market. Boring is good here.

Non-residential building approved · ABS

$12m of non-residential building was approved in Southern Midlands in FY26

Okay
FY24
$12m
FY25
$2m
FY26
$12m

Government projects All non-residential

$12m

All sectors, FY26

$8m

Government, FY26

$7m

Schools and health, last 3 years

What this shows. The dollar value of shops, offices, schools, hospitals and other non-home buildings approved each year. The darker bar is the government's share.

Why it matters. Governments build where they expect people. Schools and hospitals are the most honest signal they give about where families are heading. For the named projects behind these numbers, ask for the full report.

Jobs

Who's working in Southern Midlands.

Work here runs on agriculture (14% of jobs), ahead of health care and social assistance and construction. 177 more residents are in work than five years ago (+5.4%). Unemployment sits at 2.7%, comfortably under the national 4.2%. On the ABS advantage index it ranks in the bottom 30% nationally. That usually means better yields, and it means doing your homework street by street.

Jobs · SALM, March 2026

177 more people in Southern Midlands have a job than five years ago

Good sign

3,448

Residents in work

2.7% vs 4.2%

Unemployed · Australia

+5.4%

Jobs change, 5 years

Unemployment rate 2.7% vs 3.9% typical TAS council

Southern Midlands Australia

Why it matters. Strong jobs growth shows up in housing demand with a lag. People get the job first and buy the house a year or two later.

Who employs people here · Census 2021

Agriculture is the biggest employer in Southern Midlands, 14% of jobs

Advantage 3 of 10
Agriculture
14%
Health care and social assistance
13%
Construction
12%
Retail trade
8%
Manufacturing
8%

What this shows. The five industries that employ the most residents, as a share of all jobs. The pill is the ABS advantage score: Southern Midlands sits in decile 3 of 10 nationally, where 10 is the most advantaged.

Why it matters. A spread of employers means no single closure can empty the town. That is the kind of job base that holds house prices through a downturn.

The outlook

Is Southern Midlands worth buying into?

Put the drivers together and the case for Southern Midlands is: a population that keeps growing, net internal migration in its favour, a job base that has expanded. None of this guarantees anything. It tells you where to look harder, which is what a report like this is for.

Free · Written by hand · One per person

This page is the public data. The full report is that written up as a document, plus the current price, rent, yield and growth on one suburb inside Southern Midlands. One per person.

Name, email and phone. I write these by hand, one per person, and the conversation afterwards is the only thing the report costs.

Leave your details and I'll get in touch about it myself, by email or phone, usually within one business day. It comes from dan@buyersfirstagency.com.au, and it lands in junk more often than it should, so check there if you don't see it. You'll also go on the Market Pulse mailing list, one email a month on where the market is actually heading. Unsubscribe whenever you like, and I never pass your details to anyone else.

Inside the LGA

The suburbs of Southern Midlands.

Next step. See what's for sale in Oatlands on realestate.com.au or Domain. Then send me the address before you make an offer. That is the part the data cannot do.

All 29 suburbs and localities in Southern Midlands

Andover · Antill Ponds · Baden · Bagdad · Broadmarsh · Campania · Colebrook · Dysart · Elderslie · Jericho · Kempton · Lemont · Levendale · Mangalore · Melton Mowbray · Mount Seymour · Oatlands · Parattah · Pawtella · Rhyndaston · Stonehenge · Stonor · Swanston · Tiberias · Tunnack · Whitefoord · Woodbury · Woodsdale · York Plains

Free · Written by hand · One per person

Want the full workup on Southern Midlands?

This page is the public data. The full report is the written workup: current price, rent, gross yield and vacancy, growth over 1, 3, 5 and 10 years, days on market and demand, and the supply coming down the pipe, for Southern Midlands or any suburb in it. Same data we run for clients. I pull it and email it through, usually within a business day. One per person, no charge, and no 14-part email sequence afterwards. All I ask is that if it lands, you take the fifteen minute call at the end of it.

Name, email and phone. I write these by hand, one per person, and the conversation afterwards is the only thing the report costs.

Leave your details and I'll get in touch about it myself, by email or phone, usually within one business day. It comes from dan@buyersfirstagency.com.au, and it lands in junk more often than it should, so check there if you don't see it. You'll also go on the Market Pulse mailing list, one email a month on where the market is actually heading. Unsubscribe whenever you like, and I never pass your details to anyone else.

Keep comparing

Markets of a similar size in TAS.

A council only makes sense in context. These are the TAS markets closest to Southern Midlands in population, each with its own written report.

General information only, not financial or investment advice. Cycle positions and projections are modelled LGA-level figures to July 2026, sourced from HtAG Analytics. Population and approvals are ABS estimates; employment is SALM smoothed data; income, age and tenure are Census 2021. None of it can see street quality, flood maps, zoning or the contract, which is where deals are actually won and lost. Get advice on your own situation before acting.

Data finds the area. It doesn't buy the house.

We narrow 15,000 suburbs to the top 5 for each client, then find the street and the property. If Southern Midlands is on your list, that's a conversation worth having early.

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