Investors Appear To Be Backing The Property Market In 2020

Over the past few weeks, I’ve noticed an increased volume of enquiry from Property Investors who are looking to invest in both the housing market and the acreage sector as many cashed-up investors are searching for better % returns whilst interest rates remain at such historically low levels.

For example, “Rates for savings accounts have been steadily dropping since last year, and that trend will only accelerate when the Reserve Bank decides to reduce the cash rate in the coming months. When that happens, we’ll likely see larger cuts levelled against savings accounts than home loans, as banks try to maintain a healthy margin between the two. 

Currently, the average ongoing savings rate sits at 0.98% p.a., while the average among the big four banks is 0.58% p.a. Among savings accounts tracked by Mozo, only 10 offer rates of at least 2.00% p.a. 

As expected, neobanks have emerged as the ones to watch in the savings arena, with 86 400, Up and Xinja currently offering maximum rates as high as 2.25%. Newcomer Volt Bank is also slated to roll out its savings account this month. When it does, it will come with a no strings base savings rate of 2.15% p.a.” ~ Banking Expert, Peter Marshall from Mozo said earlier this month.

Term Deposit Interest Rates: February 2020

Peter Marshall also shared that…

”The year has gotten off to a shaky start for term deposits, with many banks already making cuts in anticipation of an upcoming move from the Reserve Bank. Right now the average 6 month term deposit interest rate is at 1.49%, the 1 year rate is 1.44%, and the 3 year is 1.40%. 

Judo Bank continues to lead the market for terms between 6 months and 5 years in length, offering 2.05% for 2 year terms, 2.15% for 3 year terms, and 2.25% for 4 year terms. Among term deposits tracked by Mozo, those from Judo Bank are the only ones that offer savers upwards of 2.00% p.a. If you need some extra reassurance, all deposits of up to $250,000 are covered under the Government Deposit Guarantee Scheme.

If you’re after some flexibility there are still a handful of savings accounts with rates of 2% or above, but you’ll either need to move your money every couple of months once the bonus period ends or meet fulfill a few conditions, such as making a minimum deposit every calendar month.”

With the sharpest current offerings for home loans available as of 10/2/20…

• Owner Occupied – Variable Principal & Interest Payments – 2.80%

• Owner Occupied – Fixed Principal & Interest Payments – 2.74%

• Investment – Variable with Principal & Interest Repayments – 3.19%

There are some great opportunities and reasons to invest in this current market, especially with interest rates looking like they will remain low for a while to come as well as with Sydney auction clearance rates on the increase plus the strong uptake of the Federal Government’s First Home Loan Deposit Scheme, the market is becoming more competitive and many property analysts are predicting large capital growth for property throughout the year, for example, “AMP economist Dr Shane Oliver believes Sydney and Melbourne markets look set to gain at least 10% this year”. Source: Azura Financial on 10/2/20

Buying an investment property could likely return more than having your money sitting in the bank and with interest rates this low there are now a lot of properties with potential rental returns that are almost to the point of being positively geared

If you’re wondering how to invest in property, what steps to take, what to look for and whether investing in property is right for you, don’t hesitate to get in contact with me.

Regards

Greg Vincent

Low Warragamba Dam Levels Saved Us From A More Major Flood Disaster

I’ve spoken to a lot of people about the recent flooding in the Hawkesbury-Nepean Valley and many are saying ‘Thank God the dam wasn’t full’.

With Level 2 water restrictions in place for Sydney since being enforced late last year due to Warragamba Dam levels being the lowest that they have been in 15 years (prior to this week’s rainfall), as of today, the Water NSW data for Warragamba Dam showed…

Storage (recorded date) Wednesday 12 February

Warragamba Dam

Storage Capacity - 2,027,000 megalitres

Current Volume - 1,445,974 megalitres

Percent Full - 71.3%

Net Change in past week - 28.5%

Source: WaterNSW.com.au

Back on the 24th July 2019, I attended a meeting held by Hawkesbury-Nepean Valley Flood Mitigation Committee as a member and representative on behalf of Windsor Downs residents.

Alison White, Manager Communications and Engagement, Hawkesbury-Nepean Flood Strategy from Infrastructure NSW presented on numerous issues regarding the Hawkesbury-Nepean Flood Risk Management Strategy including evacuation strategy, plans for raising flood awareness along with the Environmental Impact Study (EIS) for the raising of Warragamba Dam wall to allow the dam to be used for flood mitigation. (the EIS is soon to be released for public comment)

During the meeting I raised several issues:

- The impacts of surrounding development areas on flooding & evacuation
- How do Infrastructure NSW expect to evacuate thousands of extra people during floods when Richmond Road is currently inadequate for moving traffic during peak times
- Would raising the dam wall reduce the current exorbitantly inflated flood cover insurance premiums some of the insurance companies are charging

So what happened since that meeting ahead of this week’s floods:

There was a regional flood study released and an extensive ‘Get Ready’ campaign was rolled out back in September/October 2019 ahead of the Summer storm season, which was designed to raise awareness about flooding in the Hawkesbury-Nepean Valley along with flood-evacuation route sign posting was installed throughout the district.

Also, this video was released via the SES website explaining the bathtub effect.

When the EIS is released later this year there will be an excellent opportunity for residents living in the Hawkesbury-Nepean Valley to have your say.

Once the rainfall within the Warragamba Dam catchment ceases, it will be very interesting to see how accurate the flood modelling predictions were when compared to what actually happened.

Source: water Nsw - 12th Feb 2020

There are currently a lot of myths being thrown around regarding impacts and extra development.

People saying that raising the dam wall will open up more land for development below the current 1:100 flood level may not be aware that the plan is not to lower the levels for future development as this will only recreate the same threat.

There has already been some responsible Backzoning done which changed the Penrith LEP to stop approximately 5,000 homes from being built around Penrith Lakes Scheme due to evacuation issues.

Even future land development on some of the properties situated above the 1:100 will be assessed based upon the developments’ impacts on evacuation.

Also, the proposal to raise the dam wall is not so that Water NSW can increase the water storage for Sydney’s growing population.

If the proposed future dam with the extra 14 metre high wall is then allowed to be filled up to provide a greater water supply capacity, then it would defeat the whole purpose of being a flood mitigation dam and it wouldn’t be able to hold back the water during heavy rainfall like Warragamba Dam fortunately did to reduce the scale of the flood devastation for thousands living downstream of the dam this week.

People saying ‘Thank God the dam wasn’t full’ doesn’t diminish any of our thoughts about those people who have been impacted by the recent floods and respectfully it is terrible to see the number of families, properties and businesses that were impacted by these recent floods and my heart goes out to all who have been caught in the midst of this disaster.

The EIS will hopefully be considered responsibly by Government and Local Councils because naturally there are going to be impacts both upstream & downstream to consider.

Until the EIS comes out, at present all one can say is we feel for all of those who have been impacted and thank heavens that Mother Nature went a bit easier on us this time around as in a worst-case scenario (imagining that the dam was full before this week’s rain), over 500,000 megalitres of extra water would have flowed downstream into the Hawkesbury-Nepean Valley, which would’ve been even more catastrophic with flood levels rising faster and reaching heights not seen in over a century.

My thoughts and prayers are with all of those families impacted by the recent floods, the devastation, the evacuation, displacement of family & animals, the increased level of frustration and uncertainty which happens during the floods along with the massive clean-up after the flood waters disperse. It’s a horrible (smelly) job.

I wish you all the very best and sincerely hope that this is the last of the flooding that we will see in our area for quite a while.

Regards

Greg Vincent

Keeping Your Animals Safe During An Emergency In The Hawkesbury-Nepean Region

The NSW SES not only provides an incredible service during times of flood but they also have some excellent tips to help people be more prepared during a flood.

The last big flood was back in 1992, nearly 30 years ago, so there are many people around the Hawkesbury-Nepean who have never seen a large flood in their lifetime.

Also with something like 10,000 horses throughout the Hawkesbury-Nepean district along with other livestock like cattle, sheep, goats, alpacas, chickens, etc along with the wildlife animals, there are many animals who are put at risk during flooding as many of these animals graze along the flood plains or are often located in paddocks or shelters near water courses.

Your household pets can also be impacted during flooding so it’s important to remain vigilant because your animals are totally dependant upon you during these times.

The SES have prepared a booklet designed to help keep your animals safe during flooding.

You can access the booklet here

For other information about what to do during flooding and how to be prepared, make sure you visit the SES website. They have tips on preparing Home Emergency Kits and Flood Evacuation Routes as well as Who To Call?

For emergency help in floods and storms, call the NSW SES on 132 500

I hope you find this information helpful.

Regards

Greg Vincent

Acreage Market Wrap - 8th Feb 2020

Welcome to this week’s Acreage Market Wrap where I share an insight into How’s The Acreage Market?

So, earlier this week, the Reserve Bank left interest rates on hold at the RBA’s first meeting of the year. This decision was made despite the economic fallout from Australia's recent bushfires and the global impact that China's coronavirus outbreak is starting to have on foreign trade as well as consumer confidence. It will be interesting to see what the Reserve Bank decides to do over these coming months.

In the meantime, the RBA's cash rate remains at a record low 0.75 per cent, which is where it’s been since the last 25-basis-point rate cut back in October last year.

The decision to leave rates on hold should help sustain property growth but also keep the housing market from overheating too rapidly and should go a long way towards keeping APRA (the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority) on the sidelines for a while, which will allow the recovery of the acreage market to continue throughout 2020.

In other news, the NSW Acting Valuer General, Paul Chudleigh said that they have now completed land valuations for every parcel of land across NSW. To better explain the impacts of these latest valuations, these land values reflect the value of the land component of a property only, and are based upon the value as at the 1st of July 2019, which was around the same time that the Sydney property market bottomed out.

Now the local councils use Valuer General land valuations to calculate the rateable value of a property and they use a multiplier to assess how much they will charge for the land rates portion of your rates.

There are many acreage owners who are very angry with the exorbitant rates council are currently charging, especially when you consider the services or lack thereof that councils actually provide amongst the acreage areas.

New valuations from the office of the NSW Acting Valuer General will be progessively issued to land owners from January 15 to the end of April 2020.

With Council elections scheduled for later this year, it will be very interesting to see if there’s any reduction to land rates passed on or proposed and whether any believable, significant changes are promised by those candidates seeking election.

I have a meeting scheduled with one of the Councillors at Hawkesbury City Council early this week to raise a number of major concerns that I have for acreage owners.

If you’re on acreage and you have any concerns that you’d like raised with the Councillor, don’t hesitate to get in touch with me.

So, what’s happening in the acreage market?

As expected there’s now more acreage stock coming onto the market, in fact there were…

17 new acreage properties listed this week and there are currently 395 acreage properties For Sale across the entire region.

This overall total includes 226 acreage properties For Sale throughout all of The Hawkesbury, 123 in The Hills and another 46 For Sale within Sydney’s North-West acreage areas of Penrith and Blacktown.

But, there’s only been 5 acreage properties Sold this week and all of these 5 sales were only in The Hills acreage area with none occurring in the other areas.

However, on a more positive note there are 15 properties that are currently ‘Under Contract’ across the entire region which should lead to increased sales figures once these pending sales go through the process of unconditionally exchanging contracts.

But 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 few months before we look at getting back to a booming sellers market in the acreage sector again.

Out in the field this week, there were a lot of enquiries from buyers along with good numbers at today’s Open Homes despite the rainy conditions. I’ve also noticed an increase in enquiry from acreage owners who are currently getting their property prepared to go to market who are after some tips, as well as, receiving requests from several others owners who have been unsuccessful in selling their acreage property and have asked me to see if I can help them out.

Staying Abreast Of The Future Of Real Estate

This week I’ve attended a couple of real estate events to help me stay at the forefront of our industry. These events were a real eye-opener and provided a great insight into what’s next for real estate, plus I find that taking the time to do innovative training not only helps to develop my skills and allow me to anticipate and adapt to what’s coming, but, it also improves the level service, certainty and ease that I can provide to my clients.

Our world is changing at a rapid pace and it’s no longer the big that beats the small, it’s the fast that beats the slow.

Which is why I much prefer to anticipate the market and plan for what’s coming so that I can be more of an innovative agent rather than sitting back waiting to see what happens and then ending up wondering what just happened, because I know that in the end if I don’t stay in tune, it impacts upon how I can best serve my clients.

One thing’s for certain there are lots of changes on their way for the acreage market in the years ahead and I’ll be doing my best stay abreast of these changes.

Now, lastly, just before I go, it’s now official that this latest edition of The Acreage Report 2020 (Summer edition) is the most popular edition we’ve released to date.

So, if you haven't already grabbed yourself a copy, make sure you check it out right now at www.TheAcreageReport.com.au to download your FREE copy.

It's 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.

Regards

Greg Vincent

Reserve Bank Leaves Rates On Hold At Record Low 0.75 Per Cent

There were many who predicted a rate cut in February towards the end of last year, but this decision to hold came as no surprise to most.

Keeping rates on hold is a smart move by the RBA under the current economic circumstances.

This decision should keep the property market strong and help keep APRA on the sidelines (who will be watching very, very closely to see how hot the market gets during 2020).

The ABC reported earlier today,

The Reserve Bank has left interest rates on hold at its first meeting of the year, despite the economic fallout from Australia's bushfires and China's coronavirus outbreak.

The RBA's cash rate remains at a record low 0.75 per cent, where it has been since the last 25-basis-point cut in October.

In a recent interview, Australian Real Estate Prediction 2020, Louis Christopher of SQM Research spelt out how any further rate cut could bring APRA off the sidelines earlier and today’s decision has hopefully gone a long way towards letting the growth in the property market run its course during 2020. His prediction is definitely worth tuning into if you’re interested in seeing a detailed insight into the Australian Property Market.

In spite of the economic disruption caused by the bushfires already, many indicators have been slightly better than expected, with a small fall in unemployment and a slight increase in inflation in the latest ABS data.

However, markets are still anticipating a rate cut soon, with March seen as a 50/50 prospect, while traders are pricing in a two-thirds chance of interest rates being at 0.5 per cent or lower after April's RBA meeting.

The Reserve Bank's governor, Philip Lowe, did nothing to disabuse them of this view, although his post-meeting statement did hint that the Reserve Bank was not in any rush to cut.

"Due to both global and domestic factors, it is reasonable to expect that an extended period of low interest rates will be required in Australia to reach full employment and achieve the inflation target," Mr Lowe said.

"The board will continue to monitor developments carefully, including in the labour market.

For more on today’s decision by the RBA, visit…

Regards

Greg Vincent

Source: abc.net.au

Will Council Reduce Rates For Acreage Properties Once NSW Land Owners Receive Updated Land Valuations

The NSW Acting Valuer General has completed land values for every parcel of land across NSW and the land values reflect the value of land only, as at 1 July 2019, which was around the time that the Sydney real estate market.bottomed out.

The councils use these Valuer General land valuations to calculate the rateable value of a property and they use a multiplier to assess how much they will charge for the land rates portion of your rates.

There are many residents who are very angry with the exorbitant rates council are currently charging amongst the acreage areas, especially when you consider the services or lack thereof that councils actually provide amongst the acreage areas.

New valuations from the office of the NSW Acting Valuer General will be progessively issued to land owners from January 15 to the end of April 2020, but bushfire victims will receive their statements later than everyone else.

It’s good to see that the Acting Valuer General, Paul Chudleigh has showed compassion for the bushfire victims by holding off from issuing valuations to bushfire victims, when he said,

“I acknowledge that issuing new valuation notices at this time may cause distress to some property owners who have been impacted by the bushfires so we will delay the issuing of notices in bushfire affected regions until April. People in bushfire affected communities are hurting. Many have suffered property damage or lost homes, and some have also lost loved ones. Many will be living in areas that remain devastated for some time following these tragic events.”

It’s surprising to see that even though the rural areas of NSW have been suffering from one of the worst droughts in Australian history and yet the rural property valuations increased (which doesn’t make any sense. I think there will be a lot of objections from the rural communities if their Land Taxes and Council Rates increase as a result of these increase valuations.

Whilst I appreciate that there are some rural areas that would naturally be exceptions, for example Parkes, which has a 600 hectares National Logistics Hub which is set to be Australia’s largest intermodal site, integral to the national freight solution along with the inland rail project, however, other rural areas have had a devastating past few years and the rural communities certainly don’t need any more financial hardship.

There must be a case for some sort of reduction, especially when you consider…

Overall, land values decreased across NSW by 5.4% to $1.73 trillion in the 12 months to 1 July 2019. Land values were assessed by independent contract valuers based on the value of land as at 1 July 2019 following analysis of over 57,000 sales statewide. The valuations were then quality assured by valuers from Property NSW. 

Source: TheRealEstateConversation.com.au

With Council elections scheduled for later this year, if there’s no reduction to rates then questions as to why not need to be asked of the existing Councillors and candidates who will be seeking election.

if you own acreage and have any questions regarding your valuation or need help with who to speak with regarding your rates, don’t hesitate to get in contact with me

For more information, see the full article about NSW land owners to receive updated land valuations

Regards

Greg Vincent

Acreage Market Wrap - 1st Feb 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?

But before we talk acreage, I’d just like to do a quick shout out to all of the kids who started back at school this week, I wish you all the very best for this school year.

...and especially to all the little ones who had their first day at school or who start school on Monday I wish you all the best as well as sending my thoughts to all of the Mum’s & Dad’s & those extra proud Grandparents who all normally need more support than the kids do along with maybe a tissue or two during a child’s first day of heading off to school.

It’s an amazing time in your life where you can’t help but wonder where on earth did those past few years disappear.

It’s even hard to believe that the first month of this new decade is already over.

So, anyway let’s get into it...

This week, I shared an insight into “How the future home will impact the acreage market?”

As John McGrath predicted in his article on Switzer Daily this week, the future home will be a “move to minimalism resulting in smaller, simpler homes with streamlined, open spaces that are easy to maintain and provide a sanctuary-style escape from a hectic world.

Because, 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.”

However, on the flip-side, as Australia’s population increases and Sydney’s urban sprawl starts to accelerate to provide much needed housing, the future home is going to become much smaller plus parcels of land in newer subdivisions will shrink even further to accommodate greater density development, which will in turn increase the value of englobo acreage properties situated within the development areas.

Whilst Sydney’s population growth and sprawling development keeps occurring I believe that there’s going to be an upsurge in demand for acreage properties, and this is due to a number of factors.

Firstly, there’s a large number of displaced and cashed-up acreage owners who will end up with their properties rezoned and after having been bought-out by developers many of these acreage owners will want to relocate back onto another nearby acreage property to maintain their current lifestyle which will put added pressure on acreage prices like it did back in 2014/2015.

Secondly, with all of the extra construction and infrastructure projects which will continue to take place in & around Sydney, many of the people who own trucks, excavation equipment along with many small to medium sized business owners and tradespeople like plumbers, landscapers, etc will be looking to buy acreage properties to set up home-based businesses so that they can store their vehicles and equipment without the expensive overheads of having to lease and fit out industrial premises.

Acreage already provides a functional and practical solution for many of these types of home-based businesses and the demand for more extra space is only set to increase in the future as Sydney becomes more and more crowded-in.

If you’d like to learn more about what the future home will be like and its impact on the acreage market, here’s a link to the article I wrote earlier this week.

Also, to kick-off the new decade, McGrath have released their brand new McGrath.com.au website this week which delivers a cutting-edge user experience combined with an elegant, streamlined design that is true to the McGrath brand.

The new McGrath Knowledge centre showcases rich blog content, ebooks, checklists and much more to help with all your real estate questions. Here’s a link to some information about McGrath’s new website.

So, what’s happening in the market?

The housing market has started off the new year extremely strong which is great news for home sellers, but, How's The Acreage Market tracking in comparison?

Well, whilst there’s been a lot more enquiry and an increase in buyer activity within the acreage market compared to this time last year, however, during this past month the number of sales that have actually transacted has been less than 5% of the stock available which is quite a low ratio when compared to the overall number of acreage properties which currently remain unsold.

This means that with more acreage stock expected to come onto the market in the coming weeks, those acreage owners who really do want to sell in today’s more buoyant and active market conditions need to be very careful not to get too swept up in all the media hype about all the record prices and hysteria that’s currently occurring within the inner-city housing market, especially if they’re looking at downsizing and moving from acreage into the booming housing market.

You see, if you’re waiting for acreage prices to catch up, by the time acreage prices rise to the level you may want, any gains that you made will most likely be lost by having to pay so much more for the home that you’re looking to move to.

On the other hand, if you can afford to purchase your next home now (maybe buy structure it as an investment property) prior to selling your acreage property then there may be an opportunity to capitalise on the future capital growth on both your new home and on your acreage, that is if you can afford to wait for acreage prices to recover.

But as always make sure you seek out advice from either your accountant or financial advisor.

Hopefully, you can see why it’s vitally important for acreage owners to stay in-tune with what’s actually happening in the acreage sector because acreage properties are still in a highly competitive marketplace at present and if available stock levels remain as they currently stand it looks like the acreage market could stay quite competitive up until around the middle to later part of this year.

You see, for example,

…there were 8 new acreage properties listed this week and there are currently 391 acreage properties For Sale across the entire region.

This overall total includes 220 acreage properties For Sale throughout all of The Hawkesbury, 121 in The Hills and another 50 For Sale within Sydney’s North-West acreage areas of Penrith and Blacktown.

However, there’s only been 4 acreage properties Sold this week across the entire region with another 10 properties that are currently ‘Under Contract’.

Whilst January sales momentum normally takes a bit of time to get going because Solicitors have been on holidays, etc, there were actually only 17 acreage properties Sold this month which is only 4.17 per cent and is quite a low percentage when you consider as I mentioned before, there are nearly 400 acreage properties currently for sale across the entire region.

But on a more positive note, it looks like this February/March period is going to be a bit like a new Spring market with acreage buyers flooding back into the market, plus being a leap year, having one extra day of trading in February may just help to improve this months sales stats just enough that I think we’re going to see the number of acreage sales at least double if not triple this coming month compared with January’s sales results.

So what’s happening out in the field this week.

Well it’s not only the mercury that was soaring, the acreage market is definitely heating up. There were a lot buyers enquiring about acreage properties this week and lots of buyers out and about at today’s Open Homes even in the sizzling heat. It really looks like February is going to be a hot market for acreage sales.

Time will tell. It’s going to be very interesting to see at the end of this month how both February’s acreage stats and the overall stats for this Summer finish up, which I’ll be featuring in the upcoming Autumn edition of The Acreage Report 2020.

In the meantime, if you haven't already grabbed yourself a copy, make sure you check out The Acreage Report 2020 Summer edition at www.TheAcreageReport.com.au or visit this page on my website to download your FREE copy now.

It's packed full of valuable insights and updates about exactly what's happening within The Hills, The Hawkesbury and Sydney's North West acreage market.

Lastly, in other news, the Developers are definitely back out in the market again and right now is the time to protect yourself and get prepared for when the developers do come knocking on your door.

If you’re looking to sell your acreage property to a developer, having the right people on your side is critical, which is also why I’d like to take this opportunity to welcome the new appointment by the McGrath Projects team of Michael Bevan, who is a development and site acquisition specialist who will be helping address the extra demand we anticipate receiving from developers as we prepare for much busier times ahead in the acreage sector.

McGrath as a company is very strategically positioned within the marketplace to assist those acreage owners who are going through development and the uncertainty of rezoning, as well as support you at every step throughout the process of selling your property to developers.

If you’d like more information about what’s currently happening with developers, Planning NSW and the local councils, here’s a link to an article I shared earlier this week about.. McGrath Well Positioned As Developer Confidence Returns Back Into Sydney Property Market

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.

I’ll be back again next week with another update. In the meantime, let’s hope we get more of that rain that’s predicted along with a welcome break from this extreme heat.

Thanks for watching. Enjoy the rest of your weekend everyone. Bye for now.

Regards

Greg Vincent

McGrath Well Positioned As Developer Confidence Returns Back Into Sydney Property Market

Recently there’s been increased interest from development groups for residential sites which coincides with a new appointment by McGrath Projects of Development and site acquisition specialist, Michael Bevan to help address the demand from developers as we prepare for busy times ahead.

Due to the rapid recovery in the residential sector the smaller to medium sized developers are back in the market looking for both DA Approved and Raw Development Sites.

Adam Sparkes, General Manager of McGrath Projects said,

Michael Bevan’s appointment is a significant addition to our Projects team as it strengthens our capability to provide a complete full service offering.

Michael has been able to specialise in site feasibility analysis through to acquisition, design and approvals, construction company appointment and ultimate full delivery, so such wide expertise is a value-add for both our clients and our agents servicing their vendors at a local level.

In an important development for acreage owners living on the fringes of Sydney who are waiting for their property to be rezoned, Planning NSW has required local councils to exhibit their local strategic planning statements, which shows how councils will deliver new areas for development.

“The councils also have to produce new Local Environment Plans over the next two years, which will mean new zonings, upgrades to current zonings and better/clearer gateways to new development.” Michael Bevan said.

The tightening of lending by the major banks off the back of the Banking Royal Commission has had the effect of creating substantial growth in the secondary lending market which has freed up greater access to funding for the more experienced and successful developers.

My forecast is that there will be a renewed level of activity from developers throughout 2020 and beyond amongst the acreage properties situated within the North West Development Areas of Sydney.

If you have any questions about what’s happening in your area or would like to discuss selling your property to a developer, get in contact with me here

Regards

Greg Vincent

How will 'the future home' impact the acreage market?

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

If you liked this article you’ll love The Acreage Report. Click Here for your FREE Copy

Source: The House Of The Future - Switzer Daily

McGrath Kicks-Off New Decade With New McGrath.com.au Website

Today marks a fresh start to the new decade for McGrath Estate Agents with the launch of our brand new McGrath.com.au website.

Delivering a cutting-edge user experience combined with an elegant, minimalist design that is true to the McGrath brand. Our new McGrath Knowledge centre showcases rich blog content, ebooks, checklists and much more to help with all your real estate questions.

No matter if you are a buyer, seller, renter or investor, realise more with McGrath.

The new McGrath website is ready for what’s ahead and has been developed with both today’s and tomorrow’s customer in mind…

• Built for growth

• Customer personalisation introduced

• Customer nurture

• Provides data insights and AI (Artificial Intelligence)

• Keeps McGrath brand relevant

I’m looking forward to being a part of the McGrath during this new decade as the network are committed towards reclaiming the spot at the forefront of the real estate industry with an invigerating, progressive and customer-centric approach to property marketing.

If you’d like to feature your acreage property on the new McGrath website, get in contact with me here

Regards

Greg Vincent

Acreage Market Wrap - 25th Jan 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?

Earlier this week, John McGrath shared his forecast into how he sees the property market unfolding in 2020 and his report also included the 8 Key Things To Know About The Market in 2020.

Here’s a link to John’s 8 Key Things To Know... They’re definitely worth checking out if you’re interested in knowing more about the trajectory of the market in 2020.

Also, the Australian Financial Review reported this week that the rebound is pushing property prices to record levels.

Separate figures in the latest quarterly house price report from Domain showed that the rebound has gained momentum in Sydney, which posted its first annual growth in two years.

If prices continue at their current pace, the market will recoup the $165,000 lost during the 18-month downturn, with the median house price expected to break the $1.2 million barrier by the middle of this year.

Also, Yesterday, I tuned into one of the most insightful property forecasting discussions I’ve ever seen by leading market analyst, Louis Christopher from SQM Research and Real Estate Coach, Tom Panos where they discussed the Australian Real Estate Market Predictions in 2020.

A couple of key points forecast by Louis Christopher were both a V-shaped recovery as well as a ‘Great Sellers Market’ this year.

If you’d like to see the recording and the state by state predictions along with the 2020 Boom & Bust Report check it out here. It’s definitely worth watching if you’re looking to buy or sell property this year.

So, How's The Acreage Market tracking compared to the housing market?

Whilst all of these housing market reports are indicating a rapid V-shaped price recovery, the acreage sector is currently experiencing more of a U-shaped response to the market.

This slower market recovery is mainly due to the high volume of acreage stock that still remains unsold and the fact that the number of sales occurring v’s the number of new listings coming onto the market is currently maintaining more of a status quo within the acreage sector.

For example, there were 11 new acreage properties listed this week and there are currently 360 acreage properties For Sale across the entire region

...with 196 acreage properties For Sale in The Hawkesbury region, 115 in The Hills and 49 For Sale in Sydney’s North-West acreage areas of Penrith and Blacktown.

However there have only been 3 properties Sold this week across the entire region. But on a more positive note, there are 13 properties that are now ‘Under Contract’.

Even though there may be a bit of a lag period before we experience the same percentage price growth as the housing sector, the acreage market is definitely on the improve.

I've experienced a stark contrast between the level of acreage buyer enquiry so far this year versus the start of last year.

I'm finding that the astute buyers with greater access to credit are now looking to get into the acreage market before it rebounds significantly.

Now out there in the field this week, there was still a good number of buyers out & about today considering that it's the long weekend.

Also the creek front 5 acre property at 197 Willeroo Drive, Windsor Downs went ‘Under Contract’ plus I’ve had several requests for contracts on my other listings and I also listed an acreage property in the Vineyard Stage 1 Release Area which is a great investment opportunity for anyone looking for something with development and future growth potential. Make sure you keep an eye out for that one.

So with most people back from holidays and the kids heading back to school the property market will settle back into a more predictable rhythm.

The way things are currently tracking it looks like my predictions in the Summer edition of The Acreage Report 2020 are all starting to fall into place.

If you haven't grabbed a copy of it already, visit www.TheAcreageReport.com.au to get your FREE copy now.

It's packed full of great insights into exactly what's happening in the acreage market in The Hills, Hawkesbury and Sydney's North West.

Lastly, in other news, Hawkesbury City Councillor, Nathan Zamprogno raised a few questions earlier this week about a DA application for a Hindu Temple being proposed on an acreage property in Pitt Town, especially after a number of residents had approached him about the development. If you’d like to know more about this DA application visit

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

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

I just want to say Happy Chinese New Year to all of my Chinese clients.

Have a great long weekend ... and Happy Australia Day for tomorrow everyone. I’ll see you next week. Bye for now.

Regards

Greg Vincent

Australian Real Estate Market Predictions 2020

Louis Christopher from SQM Research shared these in-depth Australian Real Estate Market Predictions for 2020 when he caught up with Real Estate Coach, Tom Panos yesterday.

It's very interesting looking at the stats and forecasts, especially the different scenarios outlined within the Boom & Bust Report. With prediction that the interest rates are expected to remain on hold (not get cut by the RBA as many other analysts are forecasting) and with APRA anticipated to stay on the sidelines a 'V-shaped recovery' and a 'Great Sellers Market' is predicted this year in the Sydney market.

In the acreage market, the ‘V-shaped recovery’ will take a bit longer to come into effect and it will be more like a ‘U-shaped recovery’ due to the large volume of available stock on the market at present, with a lot more predicted to hit the market in the coming weeks and months.

For example, there are currently 360 acreage properties for sale across all suburbs within the Hawkesbury, Hills and North-West Sydney region that I outline within The Acreage Report and in this past week there have been 3 acreages Sold, 13 are Under Offer and there were 11 New Listings, which shows that the number of sales will need to increase significantly to reduce the amount of available supply before we’ll start to see prices increasing as much as they have been in the Sydney housing market.

The marketing approach adopted by your acreage agent is going to be vitally important throughout this selling period.

If you’re thinking of making a move, then 2020 looks like being a good time to sell before APRA look like stepping-in to slow the market down again in 2021.

I hope you find this information helpful.

Regards

Greg Vincent