In a recent article, John McGrath shared an insight into the house of the future along with what they’re likely to include and whilst the compact and curated looks to be the theme for the future home, it’s going to be extremely interesting to see how the future changes in lifestyle, technology, convenience and construction will impact the acreage sector. For example,

The move to minimalism is resulting in smaller, simpler homes with streamlined, open spaces that are easy to maintain and provide a sanctuary-style escape from a hectic world.
In our McGrath Report 2020, we discussed how demographics were driving the move towards more affordable, minimalist homes. Two megatrends – the ageing population and the shrinking family, mean fewer people per Australian residence.
The ageing population will see more downsizer single and couple-only households. In the 2016 Census, 14% of Australians were aged 65 years and over, an increase from 11% in 2011. This is expected to rise further to 21-23% of the total population by 2066.
Lone person households are expected to grow from 2.3 million in 2016 to 3-3.5 million by 2041.
Families are also shrinking, reducing the need for space. Australian women are having fewer children, with the fertility rate at 1.74 babies per woman – the lowest since 2001.

A lot of acreage owners have felt that there’s a significant disparity between how much a brand new home on a 300 sqm - 500 sqm block in areas like Box Hill, Marsden Park, Rouse Hill, etc are selling for v’s the prices being achieved for homes on nearby acreages.

The acreage properties which have parcels that are 10 - 50 times the size of the residential homes but yet the acreages regularly sell for less than double the price of the residential homes.

The main reason for this disparity is the affordability and how much extra deposit and additional income a purchaser has to put towards a property to borrow the extra $250K, $500K or $1m to be able to afford to move onto acreage.

Also, as a large percentage of young families have dual incomes to pay the mortgage and other living expenses, living in a home that requires less maintenance can have a practical appeal.

Increasingly time poor home owners want more flexibility and lower maintenance properties to suit their busy lifestyles. Many people don’t have time to mow lawns or clean large residences anymore.

As the demand for smaller easier-maintenance homes increases this will have a positive impact on the acreage market as Sydney’s urban development sprawl spreads further and further into the fringe acreage areas which will put planning pressure on to the NSW Government and Local Councils to release more urban precincts.

Australia’s surging population, which is expected to grow from 25 million to 37-49 million in 2066, means major cities will have to make more use of medium and high density options.

With an increasing likelihood that ‘the future home’ will become more compact, the density of housing development within the future precincts will increase which means that the developers will most likely be paying a lot more per acre for rezoned land in the future.

As the population increases and more compact development occurs, there’s going to be a lot of extra people who will need more space and acreage will become in high demand.

For example, local councils are becoming stricter and stricter with truck drivers parking their vehicles on local streets or footpaths and acreage provides an excellent solution for the transport industry.

With all of the civil construction works and infrastructure projects happening around Sydney, so many trades need extra storage space for their equipment.

Nowadays there are a lot of tradies who have moved their business to a home-based business on acres where they can have a large yard for parking and a large shed/workshop for storage.

So whilst the home of the future may suit the white-collared workers, there’s an ever increasing number of machinery-centric high-viz collared workers who require a lot more room than a 300m2 block.

The rural lifestyle properties along the fringes of Sydney are going to become extremely rare as Australia’s population continues to expand rapidly towards 50 million.

Historically low interest rates and projections of possible double digit growth along with rental income showing greater returns than having money in the bank, now is a great time to take advantage of investing in this sector before the acreage market surges ahead.

If you’d like to know more about the acreage market and what’s happening in your suburb, don’t hesitate to contact me.

Make sure you check out the full article about ‘the future home’ by John McGrath here

I hope you found this information helpful.

Regards

Greg Vincent

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