Hi, and Happy Leap Year Day and welcome to the last leap year Saturday that we'll see for another 28 years.

Plus, today is the last day of Summer ...and Mother Nature has certainly made this a Summer that a lot of us will never forget.

My heart goes out to all of those people impacted by the bushfires, floods and storms we experienced this season.

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?

So this week, the uncertainty of the Corona Virus has had an enormous impact on the share market as well as the value of the Aussie dollar.

As a result we should start to see a lot more investors looking at moving their money into property investment.

Prediction: I anticipate that many will be opting to land bank or future invest in the acreage market to capitalise on the inevitable rezonings and urban sprawl that will take place around Sydney's fringe suburbs throughout this next decade.

Despite the RBA holding rates steady this month, several of the banks have just cut their mortgage rates for investors in anticipation of an increased uptake in investment loans from investors moving across from the share market. There will also be an increase in Mum & Dad investors who after the recent property price increases will now have extra equity in their home that they could use to buy an investment property and start expanding their property portfolio.

If you're thinking about investing in property, earlier this week, John McGrath shared his top tips for property investment in 2020.

In other news, Infrastructure Australia released the 2020 Infrastructure Priority List earlier this week. There are 147 infrastructure proposals on the list, which is the largest since its inception, with 37 new proposals added this year.

Whilst the infrastructure links to the Western Sydney Airport and the extension of the Sydney Metro rail through to the city and out to Bankstown will have some impacts, the three main projects that will have a direct impact on acreage in this area are…

Proposal to raise Warragamba Dam
South Creek Integrated Land Use And Water Cycle Management
The Outer Sydney Orbital (M9) corridor.

To find out more about the 2020 Infrastructure Priority List click here.

So, what’s happening in the acreage market?

As predicted, there’s now a lot more acreage stock coming onto the market.

In fact there were 28 new acreage properties listed this week (the largest number we've seen so far this year) which means that currently there are a total of 395 acreage properties For Sale across the entire region.
This overall total includes 218 acreage properties For Sale throughout all of The Hawkesbury, 125 in The Hills and another 52 For Sale within Sydney’s North-West acreage areas of Penrith and Blacktown.
But, there’s only been 6 acreage properties Sold this week and 15 properties that are currently ‘Under Contract’ across the entire region.

…and Autumn looks set to be an extremely active acreage market off the back of the positivity in the housing market with auction clearance rates hovering back up around the 80% mark again.

However, the reality is that with the current rate of new acreage stock coming onto the market, it will take a dramatic increase in sales volume over the coming months before we can start experiencing a booming sellers market in the acreage sector again.

Out in the field this week, there were a lot of enquiries from buyers who are now fully qualified and ready to purchase if they find the right property.

Also, this week I’ve been putting the finishing touches to The Acreage Report (Autumn edition) which will be going off to print next week. It includes an exclusive report on 'The Future For Acreage This Decade' and here’s a ‘Sneek Preview’ of part of that report.

Draft Report: A Look Into 'The Future For Acreage This Decade'

While I was putting together this latest report all I kept finding myself asking was if Sydney's population is projected to increase by 1.4 million in this next decade, then where on earth are all of these people going to live.

To find out more, check out the link above, and if you want to receive a copy of The Acreage Report (Autumn edition) before it goes to print then register now at…

TheAcreageReport.com.au

The current edition of The Acreage Report 2020 (Summer edition) was by far the most popular edition we’ve released to date, but, I have a feeling that this next edition is going to be even more popular.

The Acreage Report is packed full of valuable insights and updates about exactly what's happening within the Hawkesbury, Hills & Sydney’s North West acreage market.

Plus, when you grab a copy you’ll also receive instant access to The McGrath Report 2020 which features some great information from property expert, John McGrath.

So there you have it, 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 and bye for now.

Regards

Greg Vincent