Acreage Market Wrap - 2nd August 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? 

I’ve had a lot of people contact me after last week’s episode where I answered the important questions “Should I buy acreage now? Or should I wait?” and some of the announcements made by the NSW Government during this week have only helped to reinforce some of the topics I raised in last week’s Acreage Market Wrap. If you’d like to watch that episode, you’ll find a link to it here.

So, without further a do, here’s this week’s update...

Well, something else that’s about to change is that I predict you’ll be hearing the catchphrase ‘Green Star Homes’ a hell of a lot more into the future, after the recent announcement about a proposed new greener standard for Australian homes.

You see, with it reported that something like 90 per cent of our time is being spent indoors, and two thirds of this is at home, a healthy home environment is critical to wellbeing and it’s the main reason for this new draft Standard of dwelling construction being proposed within the housing sector.

Green Building Council of Australia’s CEO Davina Rooney said the with the release of a draft Green Star Homes Standard for consultation, it will lift the bar on current regulatory settings and proposes an ambitious suite of minimum construction criteria.

“To achieve Green Star certification, as a minimum, homes will need double glazed windows and doors, air filtration and LED lighting, good access to daylight in living areas and bedrooms, sufficient renewable energy generation to support the home’s operations and no fossil fuel use,” Ms Rooney said.

The Green Star Standard is being developed collaboratively with rigorous consultation and input from industry, consumers, builders, banks, investors and insurers to ensure it is fit for purpose and the plan is for this new Standard to achieve widespread change throughout the building industry.

Also, as I mentioned earlier, this week the NSW Government made a couple of important announcements to help inject added incentives into the housing construction sector.

Firstly, the NSW Government have announced a new Build-To-Rent initiative which will encourage major developers, more institutional investment capital as well as increase the prospects of bringing offshore investment into Australia’s building sector which will help boost the economy and support employment growth.

Secondly, the NSW Government raised the threshold above which stamp duty will be charged on new homes for first home buyers. They’ve increased the free stamp duty threshold from the current $650,000 and as of yesterday it’s now 800,000, but it’s only for new homes.

The government has anticipated that more than 6,000 first home buyers will benefit from the changes.

The housing sector and property developers will also benefit from this initiative, but Planning NSW need to start rolling out the rezoning of housing development or the initiative is pointless if First Home Buyers can’t find any vacant land to build on.

I anticipate that we’re going to see a lot of announcements coming out of the NSW Planning Department about land releases between now and Christmas.

Plus, this week work commenced on the new Shopping Centre in the Elara estate, which will include 20 shops including a Coles Supermarket.

This will become the closest shopping centre for acreage suburbs like Windsor Downs, Berkshire Park, Shanes Park and it’s likely to become a popular drop-in destination for lots of commuters travelling to and from work along Richmond Road.

You can never underestimate how important convenience and ease of access to local shopping centres and other services can impact acreage values.

For example, I predict that the future opening of shopping centres & schools in Box Hill are likely to have a similar positive impact on acreage values around Oakville, Maraylya, Cattai, Vineyard and Pitt Town.

How’s The Acreage Market?

Currently there are 375 acreage properties For Sale across the region. This total includes 211 acreage properties For Sale throughout The Hawkesbury, 115 throughout The Hills district and another 49 acreages For Sale within Sydney’s North-West acreage areas of Penrith and Blacktown. 

There were 9 new acreage listings this week (which meant that during the month of July there were a total of 61 new acreage listings come onto the market, however, interestingly there’s been an overall reduction in available acreage stock levels by 6.25%. There were 9 acreage properties Sold this week which increased the tally to a total of 47 Sold in July, which was a reduction from the 62 acreages sold back in June, and there are currently 19 acreage properties ‘Under Contract’ across the region.

Out in the field this week, the numbers of buyers out looking was slightly down on the previous week, but, I was impressed by the number of highly-qualified (ready-to-buy) purchasers who are currently actively looking for an acreage property to buy right now and I’m currently in negotiations on a couple of properties.

Also, this week I shared videos taken from 3 new ‘Off-Market’ properties. One at 50A St Marys Road, Berkshire Park which is an excellent ‘land-bank’ opportunity comprising a four acre parcel with a 18m x 12m Workshop.

The 2nd one is a 25 acre riverfront property at 23 Rose Street, Wilberforce which features an enormous single-storey homestead, 3 huge workshops, a separate 2nd accommodation, private boat ramp plus a water licence and is uniquely located within walking distance of the shops & the Heritage Hotel. It’s a perfect set up for riverside entertaining.

The third property is at 40 Pitt Street, Richmond which is an ideal place to move into if you’re considering downsizing off acres. It’s been beautifully renovated throughout and features 4 bedrooms, large separate entertaining area with outdoor kitchen, plenty of room to move, dual street frontage, plenty of car accommodation and lots of storage area including a shipping container. It’s an amazing place located within walking distance of Richmond shops, restaurants, schools, the golf course and East Richmond train station. 

So, if you’re looking to buy an acreage property (or may be considering downsizing from your acres) and would like to get early access to any of these places, make sure to visit... www.offmarketacres.com.au

Also, for anyone out there who maybe thinking of selling your acreage and want to get a head start on the Spring market, give me a call on 0410 526 901 to discover how to avoid underselling your property by adopting the 12 Simple Steps that I’ve recently developed to help you Maximise The Value Of Your Acreage.

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