Happy New Year everyone. My name is Greg Vincent and welcome to this week’s Acreage Market Wrap where I share an insight into How’s The Acreage Market?

Today I’m coming to you from the Windsor Downs Nature Reserve. It’s a beautiful part of The Hawkesbury with lots of walking trails and it’s a great place to escape away from the hustle & bustle of city life and enjoy the natural surroundings of the Australian bush.

I’m filming in here today for a couple of reasons...

Firstly, and most importantly I wanted to pay respect to all of the fire fighters and all of those families impacted by the recent bushfires which are still burning across several fire-fronts throughout Australia.

The devastating loss of lives, homes, communities and livelihoods as well as the enormous loss of wildlife and bushland is unimaginable.

What the firefighters have had to endure is inconceivable and we simply can’t thank them enough for all that they and their support crews have done for all of those communities affected throughout Australia.

It’s been so heartwarming to see both local and global support and donations flooding in during this time.

To do our bit to help, our McGrath community are rallying together as a network and during the month of January and February $200 out of each sale is being donated to the Red Cross bushfire appeal and we estimate that we should raise approximately $200,000 collectively as a group. I’m extremely proud to be a part of this initiative from our McGrath team.

It’s wonderful to see the good side of humanity as well as the amazing Aussie Spirit shining so brightly during these difficult times.

Now the second reason why I’m out here in the bush today is because it’s not only a beautiful spot, but also, it’s nice and shady. You see over the Christmas holidays I took the opportunity during the break to do a skin cancer treatment which as you may or may not be able to notice has left my skin quite red, blotchy and sensitive to the sun.

It will all clear up over the next week or two, and it’s a far better option than the alternative which could’ve meant getting the skin cancers cut out ...and so I thought this weeks Acreage Market Wrap is a good opportunity for me to raise some awareness about skin cancer and encourage everyone to be sun safe this Summer. So please make sure you slip, slop, slap.

So, ‘How is The Acreage Market?’…

Last month in December there were a total of 36 acreage sales across the region, with 18 sold in The Hawkesbury, 14 in The Hills and only 4 sold in the North Western acreage areas of Blacktown & Penrith.
At present there’s currently 382 acreage properties For Sale across the entire region with a lot more new acreage listings expected to come onto the market later this month.

A lot of acreage owners have been waiting until after Christmas to put their property up for sale and whilst there will be more listings, we should also see a lot more acreage sales happening in these coming weeks and months ahead as owners look to capitalise on a much more positive & active acreage market than it was this time last year.

Over the Christmas holiday period enquiries for acreage properties increased dramatically compared to the same time last year ...and during this past week there’s been a lot more buyer enquiries coming through.

I've also noticed that there's been a definite increase to the number of out-of-area, aspirational buyers looking to relocate to a more spacious and peaceful acreage lifestyle.

So, if you’re thinking of selling, ...now could be the right time to make your move , and who knows perhaps one of these buyers that I’m currently working with may just happen to be the right buyer for you.

For example, last month I sold a beautiful property at 35 Fitzroy Lane, Windsor Downs which sold before it even hit the market.

I achieved an excellent price for the owners who were thrilled with the outcome and they were really happy with the fact that we were able to sell it without having to advertise the property at all.

So, what else is new?

Well coming up this week, I will be launching an amazing property on 5 acres situated in a quiet location in Annangrove.

I think there’ll be some very strong interest for this one because it’s a modern, single-storey 5 bedroom homestead built by Rosewood homes.

The home features an extra-spacious open plan living area, 9 foot ceilings & ducted air throughout, enormous kitchen and a large theatre room.

There’s also a massive shed with 3 phase power, mezzanine storage, an awning down the size of the shed and a wide gravel driveway. It’s a brilliant set up for trucks, a tradie, car enthusiast or simply for storing away those big boys toys.

It’s a great property for the whole family. Photos were taken yesterday and it will be live on the internet early next week with the first Open Home being held next Saturday the 18th of January, ...unless it sells beforehand.

In other news, the First Home Loan Deposit Scheme kicked-off on the 1st of January.

Apparently hundreds of buyers have already applied for this initiative from the Federal Government. It’s only available for the first 10,000 applicants who qualify.

The scheme saves First Home Buyers approximately 20-30,000 dollars and it will help thousands of buyers to enter the property market who otherwise couldn’t afford to buy, which will have the domino effect of increasing property prices at the bottom end of the market and will help to fuel further price growth and buyer activity within the acreage sector.

For more information about this scheme check out this article

Also, in December the Federal Government had their controversial Capital Gains Tax legislation passed through the Senate which will have an enormous impact on thousands of Expats living abroad who currently own property here in Australia.

The Expats currently only have up until the end of June to sell their property if they want to avoid being slugged with a huge Capital Gains Tax bill in the future. If you want more information about this I wrote an article about this new legislation yesterday. Here is the link to the article

Also, while you're there, if you haven't grabbed a copy of it already, make sure you get your copy of the Summer edition of The Acreage Report 2020. It's packed full of great insights into exactly what's happening in the acreage market in The Hills, Hawkesbury and Sydney's North West. Grab your FREE copy here

So there you have it. That’s this week’s Acreage Market Wrap.

If you have any questions about anything I’ve mentioned in this video or would like to discuss any of your acreage plans with me, don’t hesitate to get in touch.

Have a great week everyone.

Regards

Greg Vincent