OVER the past year, sellers have been reaping the rewards of unprecedented demand but which buyer segments are thriving and which are still recovering?
While the property market has been good to first home buyers with plenty of government support available, investors were largely absent last year but are making a comeback in mid 2021.Ray White Chief Economist Nerida Conisbee said investors are back but their return has certainly not been as rapid or as strong as owner-occupiers.“Owner-occupiers have borrowed almost $9.5 billion more in April 2021 than they did at the start of the pandemic. Over the same time period, investors have borrowed $3 billion more,” Ms Conisbee said.“The slower return of investors is not surprising. Rental markets were tough early on in the pandemic and the six month moratorium on evictions, while necessary, was a difficult time for many landlords.“Incentives introduced during 2020 such as HomeBuilder were unavailable to investors. With prices powering ahead, and finance readily available, it’s expected that this growth in investor activity we have seen so far this year will continue.”With the absence of investors, first home buyers were left with more choice and Ms Conisbee said there was a lot in 2020 that they liked.“The first was the very slow market early on in the pandemic, conditions which are generally favourable for first home buyers,” she said.“The second was the large number of government incentives available to them, ranging from the Federal Government’s first home buyer deposit scheme and HomeBuilder, to state based stamp duty reductions.“The third was very few investors, a buyer category that tends to compete for similar properties to first home buyers."She noted the number of home loan commitments to first home buyers hit a peak in January 2021, just under the previous peak in 2009, and since then have slowly trended downwards.“The end of HomeBuilder was a big part of this, however rapidly increasing prices would also drive this. For now, it does look like activity from this group will continue to moderate over coming months,” Ms Conisbee said.Upgrading and tree-changing was a major trend since the pandemic hit last year as families traded in what had become too small living arrangements and city dwellers escaped to the country. However, downsizers were also a present in the market and Ms Conisbee said while it’s hard to measure how much downsizer activity is occurring, there is currently a mismatch between house price and apartment price rises in many established suburbs with apartment price rises far above house price rises. While this isn’t necessarily from downsizers, anecdotally, purchases of apartments are currently dominated by owner-occupiers with still very little investor activity.“Now is a particularly good time for downsizers. The market is strong and even though large family homes tend to always be in high demand, this trend has been strengthened by COVID as people look for more space, particularly big homes on big blocks," she said.“The suburbs seeing the biggest gaps are, not surprisingly, dominated by Sydney and Melbourne suburbs. The only suburb outside of this is Sunshine Beach on the Sunshine Coast, which is likely to also be driven by people looking for holiday homes.”In the auction space, while much of the country has transitioned to online auctions, this hasn’t impacted bidder numbers. Last Saturday, the Ray White Group booked a national clearance rate of 85 per cent while average registered bidders increased on the same time last year to seven and average active bidders came in at 3.9. In Melbourne, lockdown has been extended another week meaning auctions will remain online this weekend. Last weekend, the Ray White Melbourne network transitioned more than 100 auctions online successfully, recording an 89 per cent clearance rate and 6.7 average registered bidders. This weekend, the network is expected to continue this success.Ray White Patterson Lakes selling principal Genevieve Hill will be auctioning the only house on the market in the sought-after Harbour Town Estate on Saturday. Ms Hill said despite only completing two weekends of open homes at 7 Tasman Crt, Patterson Lakes (pictured above), she doesn’t believe that lockdown has impacted interest levels.“The size and lifestyle have been a major drawcard for families. The house is positioned within metres of the popular wetland area and Patterson Lakes is a lifestyle unmatched by any other in the Melbourne metro area,” Ms Hill said.“When not in lockdown, there is an abundance of outdoor options from paddle boarding or kayaking on the Patterson River, taking a leisurely stroll through the wetlands or parking your boat on your private mooring after a day of fishing in the bay. Patterson Lakes has a diversity like no other.”This Saturday, the owners of 41 Golf View Drive, Craigieburn are saying goodbye to the family home they built 15 years ago. The home is being sold by Ray White Craigieburn agent Daniel Diamantopoulos, who said buyer interest has come squarely from families and is confident the online auction will attract a host of bidders.
In Adelaide, auctions will be going ahead online this weekend after the Tuesday announcement of a lockdown from 6pm.
Despite this, one of the nine Tudor homes built in the 1930’s on West Croydon’s Alfred Road will have new owners by Saturday as it goes to online auction through Ray White Woodville principal Peter Kiritsis. The vendors have lived in ‘Gran Kirk’, (pictured above) which in Scottish means Grand Church, for 32 years. Prior to lockdown, the character home received more than 100 inspections from eager buyers.
Like his buyers, Ray White Port Adelaide agent Rick Schultz has not been deterred by the lockdown and will take 52A Cedar Ave, Royal Park to an online auction this weekend. The Ray White Port Adelaide agent said the online transition hasn’t affected the campaign and the property has been well received by first home buyers, downsizers and families.
As Sydney’s lockdown continues this weekend, so do online auctions. Ray White Sydney still had an average of 8.3 registered bidders per auction last weekend and a clearance rate of 84 per cent, proving that online auctions work.Young families are eager to get into the Carnes Hill market and Ray White Carnes Hill agent Shafeel Haq has been inundated with enquiries from buyers on 5 Mary Wade Place. Mr Haq said the location near all of Carnes Hill’s most popular amenities including the Michael Clarke Recreational Centre has been a huge draw for buyers.Meanwhile, 3/8 Norman St, Darlinghurst has attracted solid interest from first home buyers wanting something affordable but close to the city. Ray White Taylor and Partners selling agents Annie Hodgson and Walter Burfitt-Williams said they expect some strong competition at this Saturday’s online auction.No. 23 Mortimer Close, Cecil Hills (pictured above) has also attracted first home buyers and is shaping up to be an auction to watch this weekend.“Cecil Hills is a tightly held suburb in the upper echelon of the area and the home represents a great opportunity for first home buyers to get their foot in the door. We've had some strong enquiry on the property and expect the auction go well,” Ray White Wetherill Park selling agent Mathew Bell said.
The sunshine state has avoided another lockdown and auctions will be taking place on site with restrictions. This weekend, 33 Weranga Pl, Parkinson (pictured above) is expected to be an auction highlight after 21 years in the family and extensive renovations by the current owners. Ray White Sunnybank Hills agents Jonas and Ben Leong have overseen the campaign that began the week after the Brisbane lockdown and has been popular with families.Closer to the city, a tightly held apartment at 501/45B Newstead Terrace, Newstead will be the first of its type in the Mariner’s Reach building to sell since 2007. Selling agent Pauline Karatau of Ray White New Farm said she has overseen 58 inspections, mainly from local buyers.
“I’ve seen huge demand for the property because of its size, including a 330sqm living area, floor plan, north east aspect and 36 metres of absolute river frontage,” Ms Karatau said.
