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The COVID boom made everyone a property expert. Finding double-digit growth could almost be done wearing a blindfold. But now, skill has returned to choosing the right property and the right location to find double-digit growth in your portfolio. This episode, I'm going to unpack three hotspot markets and what we are looking at at InvestorKit to find the growth to move your portfolio forward. If you're looking for serious growth in your portfolio this year, you're going to enjoy this episode.
My name is Joma, leading research analyst at InvestorKit. Let's get into it. Two years ago, when we were in the COVID property boom, double-digit growth seemed to be a norm. Almost everywhere was growing double-digit every year. But now, as the markets become more normal and we look back, we'll see that double-digit growth is actually not a normal thing.
I'll give you two examples, Greater Sydney and Bonneberg. In the past 20 years, Greater Sydney actually has only seen four years of double-digit growth. And the rest of the years, it's either performing averagely or below average. And then Bonneberg. Bonneberg has been a hotspot market for many years, since 2020.
But when we look at the past 20-year growth, it actually just achieved double-digit growth in six years. Twice were achieved before 2010, when it was experiencing its previous boom. And then four years were actually the four years from 2021 to 2024. And all the years in between, the market was actually very quiet. While we admit that double-digit growth is not normal and is not something we should always chase, it is still a good thing to see double-digit growth, especially in the first few years after you have purchased one property.
And that is why InvestorKit buys in hotspot markets. In the past 12 months, the hotspot markets we are buying in have grown by 19. 6% on average in house prices. That is compared to the national average of 8. 6%.
So how did we do it? How did we pick the hotspot markets? Now I'm going to share with you some metrics we use to identify hotspot markets. So essentially what we look at is the market pressure. And to measure market pressure, we actually look at a lot of metrics.
But the key ones include the local economic activity, which is reflected by job market activity or unemployment rate, the inventory trend, which is the relationship between supply and demand, days on market trend, and then vacancy rate trend in the rental market. I'll explain with three examples. They are all hotspot markets, but they are in different stages of their hotspot phase. Now, Glaston, the first one, it is in the first half of its hotspot phase, meaning that the market pressure is still increasing and growth rate has not peaked yet. First, an active job market in Glaston.
At this moment, the unemployment rate in Glaston is around 5. 5%. I know it's not a really low unemployment rate if we compare it with the national or state average, but comparing with itself, it is actually almost as low as where it was 10 years ago when the last property boom happened in Glaston. And then we are seeing decreasing inventory level. The inventory level in Glaston is now just around 1.
2 months of stock, much lower than the three to four months of balanced level. And it's been declining since 2023. Now we do not see any signs of it to bounce back up. And then we are seeing fast declining days on market as well. Very similar with the inventory level, days on market has been trending all the way down since mid 2023.
Now the median days on market there for the house market is just around 15 days. And if we look at the long-term trend, we'll see that days on market level now is actually the lowest in over 20 years. Then the next metric we're looking at is the vacancy rate. Vacancy rate in Glaston has been declining all the way since 2019. And now it has been around 1%, a extremely low level for more than a year with fast growing rental prices.
So in summary, in Glaston, we are seeing recovering local economy and local job market, declining days on market and declining inventory, meaning the market is tightening up really quick. And then we are seeing a really tight rental market as well. That is how we tell Glaston is a hotspot market. And then the next example is Bunbury in WA. Slightly different from Glaston, it is actually at the peak of its hotspot phase.
And in the past year, the house prices there actually increased by 24. 4%. That is extremely high. So what are we seeing in Bunbury? First, we still look at the job market.
Unemployment rate there is around 5. 6%. Again, like Glaston, it's not extremely low, but it is much lower than its last 10-year average level. And then the inventory level. Inventory in Bunbury is now around 1.
4 months of stock. Again, a really low level. But in recent months, we've been seeing a slight increase in the number of listings there, which has led to a small uptick in the inventory level. However, again, the uptick is not really significant. We need more time to monitor to see if the market pressure is really relieving.
And then days on market. Days on market in Bunbury has declined to a really low 13 days on market at the second half of 2024. Now, as the number of listings increasing slightly, the days on market is also showing this upward trend. But at the same time, 15 days on market is still one of the lowest over the past two decades. And then in the rental market, vacancy rate has been extremely low, which is lower than 0.
5% for three years now. Recently, we have seen this slight increase in vacancy rate. But again, even with the increase, it is still well below 0. 5%, making the rental market still very tight. So in summary of Bunbury, job market is active.
The inventory level, days on market, and vacancy rate are all at an extremely low level. But more or less, they are showing signs of increasing. You might be wondering why I'm putting Bunbury at the peak of its hotspot phase instead of the second half. That is because all these three metrics are still at an extremely low level, and the market pressure is strong enough to sustain the fastest growth. And now we are looking at an example actually in the second half of its hotspot phase.
And that example is Barossa. First, job market. The unemployment rate in Barossa is now below 2%, the lowest level since 2010. So very active local market. Days on market in Barossa is now also at the lowest level in more than two decades, but it is not declining fast as what happened in Bunbury or Glaston.
It has stabilized at around 50 to 60 days in the past year. And at the same time, we are looking at an increasing inventory. One or two years ago, Barossa was looking at below two months of stock in its house market. But now ever since early 2024, inventory level has been going up. Now it is around three months of stock.
Still a very balanced level, but not as tight as before. And then in the rental market, vacancy rate is extremely low, 0. 5%, but not as low as it was in 2022. So as a summary for Barossa, we are seeing active local job market, low and stable days on market, and increasing but balanced inventory level. That is why we see Barossa still as a hotspot, but at the second half of its hotspot phase.
So with those three examples, I hope you have understood how to identify hotspot markets with key metrics. If you still have any questions, feel free to leave your comment below. Before we end today's episode, what I want to say is as good as hotspot market or double-digit growth may sound, they do not suit everyone. So when you consider which market or which location you want to invest in for your next investment, short-term growth is not always your priority. You may want diversity.
You may be limited by budget. For example, in your portfolio, you already have Perth and Brisbane or Adelaide, the two hotspot markets. So for the third, you may want something in a different cycle position to make sure your portfolio is balanced over time. And another example is about budget limit. Say hotspot markets, they have been very competitive now, and you may have to prepare a large enough budget to be able to afford one.
And at this point, you may want to consider some markets with a lower market pressure and lower competition so you can get something with a lower price that suits your budget. So that's it for today about how to identify double-digit growth. I hope you enjoyed it. If you have any questions, feel free to leave your comments below or reach out to the InvestorKit team. I'm Joma, the lead research analyst at InvestorKit, and I'll see you next time.
