Acreage Market Wrap - 16th May 2020

Hi, 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?

With the Coronavirus restrictions starting to be lifted, it’s so good to see people back out & about again today. Not feeling trapped at home in lockdown like we were only a few weeks ago is such a positive feeling and already there’s a real sense of Australians getting back to more of a normal life again.

Now speaking about this opening up, not only are we seeing the opening up of cafe’s, restaurants and pubs as the Coronavirus restrictions start to be lifted, but also locally, after a long wait for thousands of residents living on the other side of the Hawkesbury River, the new Windsor Bridge is scheduled to be open to traffic this coming Monday.

Fingers crossed that once the new bridge opens hopefully traffic getting across the river will flow a lot better, especially during the morning and afternoon peak congestion periods.

Whilst a WIndsor By-Pass definitely would’ve been the preferred option, only time will tell if the new Windsor bridge improves the traffic flow or not.

If it does improve traffic congestion significantly, it’s likely we’ll see an increase in buyer interest for acreage properties in Wilberforce, Freeman’s Reach, Ebenezer, East Kurrajong, Glossodia, Lower Portland, Blaxlands Ridge and surrounding suburbs that rely on access over the river via the Wilberforce flats.

Also just yesterday, Nassim Khadem from the ABC shared an article which confirmed that enquiries have increased from Australians looking to move out of the cities into more rural areas. Two of the Key points in his article were:-

- The option of living further away from big cities has become more appealing for some Australians after the pandemic

- Whatever happens to the housing market, COVID-19 has shifted the way people think about where they live and work

So as I’ve predicted previously, it looks like there are going to be some positive outcomes for the acreage market during the Post-COVID-19 period.

Last week I mentioned that the State Government urgently need to announce more specific details about any proposed changes to Stamp Duty in NSW and they need to do it fast to remove the uncertainty their announcement has made, but, unfortunately Premier Gladys Berejiklian came out this week and only added more fuel to the fire by confirming that the State Government are considering changes to Stamp Duty.

I’m sorry Gladys & The Treasurer Dominic, but with the upmost respect, you’ve gone about this the wrong way. Right now isn’t the time to play politics and start speculating about possible changes to the current Stamp Duty policy that I’m lead to believe still have as yet to be passed by the cabinet.

Pleeeaaassseee, the people of NSW have gone through enough pain & uncertainty over the past few months and there’s still so much uncertainty that they have to deal with. What they need now is clarity about major decisions like this.

People are now confused and don’t know “do I buy now or do I wait just in case I don’t have to pay Stamp Duty”.

People need certainty about what you’re going to do with Stamp Duty and they deserve to know now!

We need to know is this just an idea that was sketched out on a paper napkin that may take 12 months or several years to pass through parliament or is there an actual policy, an implementation plan and is there a timeframe in place that you can release right now? If not, why would you ever consider making such a rash announcement in the middle of this Coronavirus turmoil.

Personally I think you should come out and tell us that the changes will be retrospective and that people will have the choice to either pay the Stamp Duty upfront now or pay an ongoing Land Tax and if they purchase a property today that they can claim a refund of the Stamp Duty if they decide to select the option of paying an ongoing Land Tax. You need to give people the opportunity to decide and let them get on with their lives. Anyway rant over!

How’s The Acreage Market?

Currently there are 433 acreage properties For Sale across the region. This total includes 244 acreage properties For Sale throughout The Hawkesbury, 130 in The Hills area and another 59 acreages For Sale within Sydney’s North-West acreage areas of Penrith and Blacktown.

Even though, this week there were 9 new acreage listings enter the market, a positive indicator for the acreage sector is that the total number of listings For Sale has dropped from the high of 450 properties For Sale at the start of May (only a couple of weeks ago) and now there’s currently 17 fewer listings available For Sale across the entire region.

Sales activity was similar to last week and there were another 7 acreage properties Sold this week. Plus, another positive sign is that there’s currently 17 acreage properties ‘Under Contract’ across the region.

Out in the field this week, there’s definitely been an increase in acreage enquiries plus there were more people attending today’s Open Homes as well I experienced a much higher volume of private inspections being conducted during this week compared to previous weeks.

It’s going to be very interesting to see what the media reports about the auction clearance rates after this week’s further relaxing of COVID-19 restrictions.

Also this week, I officially launched another amazing ‘Off-Market Acres’ listing at 22 Kimberley Lane, Windsor Downs and we’ve already had several inspections on the property and there’s some very strong interest at present from a couple of buyers.

The owner is really happy because there’s already been lots of buyer activity and they haven’t had to pay a single cent on marketing.

At this rate, I don’t think this one is going to be around for long. If you haven’t seen the property as yet, I did an extensive Facebook Live video walkthrough of this classic Australian Colonial Homestead on just over 2.3 acres with spectacular views over the valley earlier this week. Here’s a link to that video and more information about this secret gem.

Also, if you’re in the market for a great acreage property around the Maraylya area then definitely make sure you get in touch with me or register for updates at www.OffMarketAcres.com.au so that you can be amongst the first to get all the details when we launch another ‘Off-Market Acres’ property in the Maraylya area later this week.

Over the past few weeks I’ve had a lot of questions come in from acreage owners about…

How does the $Zero marketing dollars ‘Off-Market Acres’ strategy actually work?

So if you’re thinking of buying or selling an acreage property and you’d like to know more about ‘Off-Market Acres’ where Secret Places are Revealed I’ll put a link to an article underneath this video which should help provide some great answers for you.

Now, lastly, behind-the-scenes there’s a lot happening. In fact, I’m currently in the process of putting together a special Post-Covid 19 copy of The Acreage Report 2020 (Winter edition) which I’ll be launching over the next couple of weeks.

The Acreage Report will be covering important insights into the 4 types of acreage buyers that are currently out there in the market, along with the 3 pricing fundamentals of acreage properties, as well as the 2 types of economists that you need be aware of, especially if you’re trying to pick the trends in the property market - plus I’ll be sharing the #1 thing that your acreage agent must put all of their energy and focus on over the coming weeks and months if they’re going to help you achieve the best outcome possible during this post Covid-19 period.

I’m looking forward to sharing this upcoming edition of The Acreage Report with you. If you’d like to be amongst the first to get your hands on this special edition, then simply register at www.TheAcreageReport.com.au or alternatively, when you register for ‘Off-Market Acres’ you’ll also immediately receive access to the current edition of The Acreage Report 2020 (Autumn edition)

The Acreage Report features statistics about what's happening in the Hawkesbury, Hills & Sydney’s North West acreage market. Plus you also get instant access to a copy of The McGrath Report 2020 which features exclusive insights from one of Australia’s leading property experts, John McGrath.

So, that’s it for this week’s Acreage Market Wrap.

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

Thanks for watching, stay safe and bye for now.

Regards

Greg Vincent