National Property Report - March 2023
Last week Herron Todd White valuers released their highly anticipated National Property Report for the month of March.
The report focuses on all facets of the real estate market across the country and is always a great read.
Two interesting aspects to the monthly report are the National Property Clock as well as a reference this month to our areas close to us, including Robina and Varsity Lakes.
The property clock looks at where the property market is currently at and once again the Gold Coast has been listed as being in a "starting to decline" position.
The term "starting to decline" could be perceived in various ways but with falls already listed as being between 5% and 10% on the Gold Coast, the "starting to decline" phrase is thought provoking when considering what may lay ahead.
Arguably the most significant factor keeping price drops to relatively modest numbers is the incredibly low stock levels that we are seeing right across the country.
With this in mind, we have included statistical information from Realestate.com that shows the number of new listings coming to market on the Gold Coast since the start of the 2022 calendar year.
The findings are quite incredible.
As you will see in the REA live data below, listing numbers are substantially down when compared to previous quarterly periods.
As an example, as of the start of this week, there have been 3,264 new listings come on to the market across the Gold Coast (excluding developers stock) from January 1st this year until today.
As a comparison, during the first quarter of 2022 there were 4,691 new listings (excluding developer stock).
With just a couple of days to complete the first quarter of 2023, we currently have 1,427 fewer new listings when comparing the same time this year to the same time last year which represents an overall decline of close to 30%.
Both the HTW valuers report for March and the realestate.com.au findings are our feature pieces this week.
Please see below the HTW Valuers report commentary on the Central and Southern Gold Coast areas followed by a link to their full nationwide report.
HTW Monthly Report Exert - Central/Southern Gold Coast Suburbs
"In the past six months, we have noticed that investors in the Central and Southern Gold Coast suburbs are being more cautious with further research and due diligence undertaken prior to making a purchase decision.
This is due to the increasing cost of repayments and tightening of lending criteria.
Other factors include deposit money not being available and equity in their own homes decreasing with the softening in the market. Some investors are also waiting for further potential downturns in the market. Going forward, we see the central and southern Gold Coast market as continuing a slight decline over the next six to nine months, however we don’t believe it will crash. This coupled with property prices peaking at an all-time high in March and April 2022 and higher costs of living are making investing in property all the more difficult for potential investors.
Traditional and favoured investor stock continues to include small walk-up units, low-rise units, townhouses and duplexes. These property types tend to provide uncomplicated investments and are still seeing good rental returns. We are seeing a general slowdown in the detached housing sector, however at this point in time, we are seeing a good amount of investor stock in Merrimac.
A detached house can be purchased from around $780,000 to $900,000 with rentals ranging from around $750 to $1100 per week. Merrimac provides a good investment choice due to the entry level detached housing, good local amenities and its easy access to major arterial roads. We still consider there to be a lot of uncertainty in the market and we see a continued downturn in prices for the next six to nine months, however to counter this, we see the rental market remaining strong.
After this time, we see a stabilisation in the market. Investors are still very strong within all localities of the central and southern Gold Coast suburbs within the unit and townhouse markets including Mermaid Beach out to Robina and Varsity Lakes and down to Currumbin. We are still seeing investment purchasers ranging from around $450,000 up to $800,000 in Robina and Varsity Lakes and from approximately $600,000 to $1 million in the beachside suburbs.
Investment in Robina and Varsity Lakes is still considered a sound decision, however we see a potential softening over the next six to nine months. It may be prudent to watch for distressed sales during this period. The rental return is what is driving the investor market within these localities, but capital gains have already been realised at the top of the market and have fallen around five to ten per cent since then."
Please see below - HTW Valuers Month in Review for March 2023.
Please see below HTW Valuers Property Clocks for Houses and Units - March 2023
REA Number of New Listings Report For The Gold Coast Q1 2022 to Q1 2023 as at March 26.
