Welcome to our Winter 2024 report.
Obviously being winter the coastal market is quieter in terms of foot traffic however, interest in the coast from an emotional and lifestyle aspect point remains high. What a lot of market participants, both buyers and sellers, are looking for is increased economic clarity in the path ahead to allow them to move forward with more confidence.
So, let’s look at some of the fundamentals. Market sentiment always starts in the metropolitan markets and most capital cities have seen price rises over the past year. According to Proptrack (owned by realestate.com.au) the combined capital city dwelling price is up 7.22% for the year to date at the end of May, with Brisbane (+13.69%), Perth (+20.58%) and Adelaide (+14.49%) all performing strongly, with Sydney next (+7.01%) and Melbourne (+.87%), Hobart (-1.93%) and Darwin (+1.38%) trading relatively flat.
Strong immigration levels and an under supply of new builds have supported these markets, with price affordability being a preferred feature in Perth and Adelaide relative to the larger capitals of Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne.
Regional markets have been more subdued post Covid however the solid fundamentals of the capital cities will provide some confidence to regional buyers, especially as interest rate trends become clearer later in the year. This is particularly so for the more discretionary coastal markets.
It is not surprising that prices on the coast have settled somewhat post Covid. This one-off event emotionally and artificially inflated the market at the time and while much of that value has been retained, recent changes to Victorian government taxes is having a dampening effect however is not uniform across all properties. With the nature of the government charges, those that are of a quality that could be a permanent place of residence are likely to be less affected than those that are not.
Also, the charges are not uniform as they are awarded on a threshold basis not a sliding scale. Therefore, they affect the upper price points disproportionally to the lower price points where the charges are an annoyance rather than being prohibitive.
What is also clear is that many people want to move onto the next chapter of their lives and are starting to get sick of waiting. We know this because our online web traffic numbers remain high and we are encountering quite a few new potential buyers at the early stages of their search. Buyers are looking for compelling opportunities that are too good to overlook for them to act and for vendors or potential vendors this means making their properties as attractive to the market as possible. This includes both physically and at a price point that is justifiable in the current market.
We hope you found is Great Ocean Report informative and if we can be of any assistance in any real estate matter please do not hesitate to call.