News & Advice.

News & Advice

The Post-Pandemic Property World: What Now?

Wondering what to buy and where when the dust of covid-19 settles? You’re not alone. Everything from the way we work, socialise and live has changed drastically, leaving questions looming over the direction of the property market.

If one thing is for certain, Covid-19 has changed the type of property we will look for in the future. The already-fading Great Australian Dream of a brick home on a quarter acre block has virtually ben erased by the pandemic. Sure, family homes will always be in demand. But skyrocketing property prices over the last 12 months have cut swathes of potential buyers from metropolitan housing markets.

In Sydney, home prices rose their fastest rate in 32 years, increasing $30 an hour – or $1.50 a minute or $1 every 40 seconds according to CoreLogic’s calculations. The median price of a dwelling has hit $1.29 million, up from $1.03 million – or 20.9 per cent - a year ago, the main drivers being high personal savings, government stimulus packages and record low interest rates. Work-from-home facilities - small computer desk-sized nooks to fully-equipped home offices complete with in-built cabinetry - are becoming features of almost every new home and apartment under construction.

So what happens next? Read on to discover the emerging trends that will be influencing your future buying decisions:

City apartments now represent good buying compared to houses.

Apartment prices in metropolitan Sydney have risen about 3.2 per cent in the past 12 months - nowhere near as fast as homes – and now represent good value. This leaves room to move and we expect apartment values to start outpacing houses as soon as post-pandemic life kicks in. “There are definitely signs there that there are demands for housing, and buyers are potentially looking for more affordable pockets of the market and that includes units,” Eliza Owen, Head of Research at CoreLogic says.

Higher demand for city boltholes; supplementing the country lifestyles with an urban base.

Covid-19 sparked flights from cities worldwide and Australia has been no different, with record numbers continuing to shun densely populated areas for places where wide open spaces are in easy reach. Records tumbled last year when around 43,000 Australians moved from metropolitan to regional areas - double the 2019 figure and the highest number since the Australian Bureau of Statistics started measuring internal migration in 2001. Melbourne saw the highest loss of all capital cities after 26,000 residents left during 2020. The shift is continuing too: in the 12 months to March this year, 44,700 people moved outside of our capital cities to regions. This mass migration is boosting the appeal of maintaining small urban properties either in or within close proximity to capital city CBDs as those who have moved away look to maintain a “city pad”.

Apartment investors can look forward to rents recovering as overseas students return.

Vaccination rates are finally climbing to the government’s desired 80% target and international flights have gone on sale with departures as early as December. It is only a matter of time before universities can welcome back their lucrative market of overseas students - the majority of whom will require accommodation nearby. “When agents are asked the rental value of a property, now they give two values – one that is current and another when conditions improve,” Maker Advisory Reece Coleman says. “This means agents are already priming investors to increase rents when the borders reopen.”

Bigger, better apartments and residential complexes with facilities and services galore.

The idea of a pool and gym being enough to satisfy consumer demand is being replaced by apartment blocks filled with lifestyle conveniences aimed at both work and play. Think of residential developments with residents’ only boardrooms, shared office space as well as cocktail bars, wine storage facilities, and even podcast studios. Even hotel-style concierges are appearing in the marketing for new residential complexes. High speed wifi is a given as is the latest tech and mod-cons; one new Brisbane development for instance will feature Tesla and Mercedes-Benz EQ vehicles for residents’ only ride-share use.

Rising demand for holiday homes.

Regional property markets are streaking ahead in many places thanks to the city-country migration detailed above as well as booming domestic tourism driven by international border closures. In the first quarter of this year residential property prices across the nation rose 13 per cent in rural areas compared to 6.4 % in capital cities according to CoreLogic. NSW claimed the winning region for greatest gains: the Richmond-Tweed area on the north coast where properties rose 21.9% over the quarter and about 15% in the preceding 12 months. Coastal markets within a few hours or less from Sydney and Brisbane such as the Central Coast and the Gold Coast have seen prices virtually double since the start of the pandemic. But do not be deterred by this sudden jump in prices: covid-19 has changed our world forever and lifestyle properties, especially two to four hours from built-up metropolitan areas, will continually be sought after for short breaks and city escapes.

Discuss your next property purchase with the team at Maker Advisory. We are dedicated to making property buying work for you and have years of expertise and inside knowledge.

The Maker Difference.

Discuss your next property purchase with the team at Maker Advisory. We are dedicated to making property buying work for you and have years of expertise and inside knowledge.

Whether you are looking for support in hotspots like Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth, the Gold Coast, the Sunshine Coast, or in any other city or regional centre in Australia, we have the network to help you realise your property dreams sooner.

Interested in learning more about how our Maker Advisory buyer’s agents can save you money, time and heartbreak? Contact us.

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