Hi, my name is Greg Vincent from McGrath Estate Agents and I specialise in selling acreage properties. Welcome to this week’s Acreage Market Wrap where I share an insight into How’s The Acreage Market?

There are a number of factors currently having a positive impact on the acreage sector and I’ll cover some of those in a moment...

Firstly I just wanted to stress the importance that first home buyer incentives and other government decisions can have on the acreage market… for example, this week the Real Estate Institute of Australia identified 12 Priorities that they’ve recommended to the Federal Government ahead of the upcoming budget in May to help assist property customers in what’s now become a CovidNormal Australia.

One of the recommendations proposed is Interest rates for first home buyers to be made tax deductible because at least six other OECD nations have a similar incentive currently in place.

“The REIA estimates that this initiative would provide a benefit of around $4,000 per annum to Australia’s first home buyers.”

Further initiatives for First Home Buyers are going to much needed as increases in property prices will make housing less affordable and some FHB could be squeezed out of the market again as investors begin to return due to rising prices, positively geared properties (due to low interest rates and better yields than term investments) and the possibility of FHB incentives diminishing.

To see a full outline of the 12 priorities proposed by the REIA, here’s a link to their recommendations

Looking at a snapshot of the differing Sydney Housing Predictions is really interesting, especially when you consider that these same people were the ones who forecasted around 10-30% falls throughout 2020

ANZ Bank have forecast an increase of 9% in 2021
Riskwise forecast 8-10% increase
NAB predicted a 4.4% increase
SQM forecast an increase of 7-11%
Westpac forecast Sydney property values could increase by 14% in 2022-23

Regardless of the differing opinions between all of these property forecasters, it looks like 2021 is going to be a year of strong, positive growth within the housing sector and the acreage market.

With vaccines already being rolled out in the US and UK and Australia to follow suit shortly, it seems that Australia’s economy is powering out of the recession and with Scomo putting an end to any debate that the government will be extending or replacing jobkeeper payments due to end 31st March but rather he said some industries, like tourism or hospitality, may benefit from “targeted assistance”, this should ease any concerns of a “fiscal cliff” upsetting the property market.

Also, this week the Reserve Bank kept the official cash rate unchanged at the historic low of 0.10 per cent and many banks are now offering below 2% interest rates on home loans with fixed rates for 4 years, which makes borrowing to move onto acreage at its most affordable right now than it has been for a decade or more.

Changes to lending rules that will make it easier to borrow money, are expected soon which will further propel the market and over the coming weeks the finance sector will see an injection of 3rd teir lenders who will be offering more flexible loan products.

On top of that, there’s also almost 40,000 Australians on a waiting list hoping to return from overseas as soon as possible, which will boost demand for property in the first half of the year and partly make up for the lack of immigration expected in 2021 with the international border still remaining closed to non-citizens indefinitely, however, immigration could kick-off very quickly once a significant percentage of the Australian population is vaccinated.

Within the building sector, the end of last year saw the biggest increase in new home/unit sales in 20 years largely due to new FIrst Home Buyer incentives making new homes more affordable and as a result enquiry from property developers looking for rezoned land has now escalated dramatically and the prices currently being offered per acre by some developers has increased by around 25-30% from what they were paying towards the end of last year.

The overall impact that a CovidNormal lifestyle is now having on our everyday lives is actually enticing buyers to relocate to suburbs where they prefer to live and ability to work from home rather than focusing their priorities on the commute to work.

This shift to focusing on enjoying a better domestic lifestyle is definitely having a positive effect on the price growth within the acreage sector.

How’s The Acreage Market?

Currently there are 260 acreage properties For Sale across the region. This total includes 140 acreage properties For Sale throughout The Hawkesbury plus there are 76 acreages For Sale throughout The Hills district and another 44 acreages For Sale within Sydney’s North-West acreage areas of Penrith and Blacktown.
The total number of acreage properties For Sale has decreased by 34% from this same time last year which means that the market has reverted back to a sellers market since there are now 135 fewer listings available to choose from.
Overall, there were only 9 new acreage listings come onto the market this week, which included 3 new listings in the Hawkesbury, 4 new listings in the Hills and 1 in each of the other areas.
There were a total of 17 acreage properties Sold this week plus there are currently 26 acreages ‘Under Contract’ across the region, with 16 of those properties ‘Under Contract’ located in The Hawkesbury.

Out in the field this week, volume of buyer enquiry was very high compared to this time last year. The stunning home at 10 Nutwood Lane, Windsor Downs was SOLD earlier this week for $2.3m, plus number 9 Avon Place, Windsor Downs went under contract in addition to 2 of my ‘off-market acres’ listings.

One of them was a 2.5 acre property with a modern home at 96 Royerdale Place in East Kurrajong and the other was a 7.9 acres bush block with an older home located on the main road at 331 The Northern Road, Londonderry. Both of these 2 properties were snapped up before they even got to hit the market at all.

This week I plan launching at least 2 more ‘off-market acres’ listings.

One of them is a home on a 5,840m2 block in Windsor Downs with a swimming pool and a separate workshop. It’s coming on the market with a price guide starting from $1.55m - $1.65m which has now become pretty much the minimum entry level for a home in Windsor Downs.

The other property is a really nice, contemporary style homestead on over 5 acres in a great part of Londonderry with potential for a separate dual accommodation. It’s an ideal set up for a large family and for anyone with trucks, etc. The price guide is going to be set just below $2m at around $1.9m mark.

I think there’s going to be a lot of interest for both of these new listings from our existing buyers who are already registered for early access to our ‘off-market acres’.

Plus, I currently have several other ‘off-market’ acreage listings available which includes a superb 9 acres property in Londonderry, a modern home on over 3 acres complete with a motorbike track in a terrific part of East Kurrajong, plus a 10 acre property in Wilberforce, a stunning resort-style home on over half an acre in North Richmond, as well as a fabulous place on 6.7 acres in Glossodia with a spectacular homestead plus it features a massive 360m2 workshop.

To find out more about any of these properties or if you’d like to be amongst the first to know about any of my upcoming ‘Off-Market’ acreage listings, make sure you register for exclusive FREE access right now at... www.offmarketacres.com.au

Now lastly, just before I go, I’m currently putting together some important insights into what else is happening within the acreage market which I’ll be featuring in the upcoming Autumn edition of The Acreage Report 2021 so stayed tuned over the coming weeks for how you can access your FREE copy of this exclusive acreage report.

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