Acreage Market Wrap - 13th September 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?

As I’ve reported previously, the NSW Government predicted that Sydney will need another one million homes within the next 21 years, and on Friday the Hawkesbury City Council launched the…

EXHIBITION OF THE DRAFT HAWKESBURY LOCAL HOUSING STRATEGY.

Hawkesbury City Council has recently prepared the Draft Hawkesbury Local Housing Strategy in order to set a clear plan for housing in the Hawkesbury Local Government Area for the next 10 and 20 years.

Key recommendations of the Draft Hawkesbury Local Housing Strategy include:

*Maintaining a long term supply of residential land by investigating potential new urban areas

*Develop a program to monitor housing land supply and housing delivery

*Consideration of the provision of Detached Dual Occupancies and Secondary Dwellings through a place based approach that considers the recommendations of the Hawkesbury Rural Lands Strategy

Along with other items that need assessing

Further details including an online submission form can be found on the link below...

www.yourhawkesbury-yoursay.com.au/lhs

If you'd like to have your say, submissions can be made up until Monday the 12th of October 2020.

It will be very interesting to see what impacts this new local housing strategy will have on acreage properties throughout The Hawkesbury district.

Also, this week I caught up with John McGrath for a training session at our Rouse Hill office. He said that after our meeting he could really sense that the momentum was building stronger and stronger within the acreage sector.

How’s The Acreage Market?

Currently there are 381 acreage properties For Sale across the region (which remained exactly the same as last week). This total includes 210 acreage properties For Sale throughout The Hawkesbury, 115 throughout The Hills district and another 57 acreages For Sale within Sydney’s North-West acreage areas of Penrith and Blacktown.

There were 16 new acreage listings come onto the market this week. There were another 9 acreage properties Sold this week and there are currently 24 acreage properties ‘Under Contract’ across the region which shows that there’s significant buyer activity currently occurring within the acreage sector.

Out in the field this week, one of the ‘Off-Market’ acreages that I mentioned last week at 9 Avon Place, Windsor Downs was snapped-up very quickly and went Under Contract this week.

Plus, the 45 acres at 235 Stannix Park Road, Wilberforce was SOLD for $3.725m and at yesterday’s auctions the 5.9 acres property at 1-5 Dodford Road, Llandilo was SOLD for $1.7m, plus the 11.7 acres property with a lucrative equestrian business was passed-in with a couple of buyers now showing interest outside of auction conditions.

This week, I listed 3 more acreages plus a house on The Peninsula in Windsor. One is a lush 5.5 acres property in Wilberforce with a Contemporary-Style home, dual-access to suit trucks and a high-quality equestrian set up. The other is a resort-style dual-accommodation property in Blaxlands Ridge on over 5 acres situated in one of the most picturesque locations you’ll ever see with access to an additional 15 acres and the Wollemi National Park.

The other acreage property is in Llandilo and features a commanding homestead with multi-family accommodation, an enormous shed with plenty of parking area and it boasts a highly-lucrative additional passive income opportunity.

The 3BR brick home on the Windsor Peninsula features one of the biggest sheds I’ve ever seen on a residential property and it’s ideal for anyone looking to downsize from acres who wants to be within walking distance of Windsor shops and needs a large workshop for extra-storage.

It’s been a very busy week for acreage buyer enquiries and the Spring Market activity has definitely kicked into top gear. If you’re thinking of selling your acreage, right now could be the perfect time to make your move and get settled into your new place ahead of Christmas.

Plus, if you’re looking to buy acreage and want to be amongst the first people to get early-bird access to my ‘off-market’ listings, make sure to check out... www.offmarketacres.com.au

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

Acreage Market Wrap - 5th September 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? 

A lot changes in a week in 2020. Last week I reported that the 20 people rule for auctions had been enforced in NSW...and now less than a week later, the Minister of Health and Medical research provided the real estate industry with an exemption under the Public Health (COVID-19 Restrictions on Gathering and Movement) Order 2020 in NSW. 

From September 4th 2020, a person is exempt from clause 11 of the Order if they are at a place of residence for the purpose of; 

a. viewing or inspecting the premises for the purpose of the sale or lease of that residence; or

b. conducting or participating in an auction for that residence

The exemption is subject to the following condition; 

i. the occupier of the place of residence must take reasonably practical steps to ensure that the real estate agent conducting the auction, viewing or inspection of residence has and complies with a COVID-19 Safety Plan. 

Also, this week it was reported that property listings in Australia continued to decline in August and Louis Christopher from SQM Research feels that this could be attributed to two reasons, but actually I really believe that there’s a third reason which the research companies have completely ignored. I’ll share my take on that in a moment.

The number of listed properties declined in August by 6.3% on a monthly basis and 10% on an annual basis. This was largely driven by the significant dip in Melbourne at 13.2% as the lockdown restrictions in Victoria have become one of the biggest causes for the drop in listings across Australia in August.

The second factor that Louis Christopher believes could be driving the drop in listings is the increasing demand for homes in regional markets.

He recently reported that “We continue to record falling supply in Australia's regional areas. Our take on that phenomenon is that demand has boomed for regional real estate as more of our populations looks to remote living”. Which is yet again another positive sign for the acreage sector.

Now the third reason that I believe has been totally overlooked is the growing number of properties which are being sold ‘off-market’ which means that those properties don’t add to the tally.

You only have to see the recent realestate.com.au TV ads that have been specifically created to try to discredit the ‘Off-Market’ approach, purely because having lots of agents selling properties ‘off-market’ is bad for their business model and it’s bad news for their shareholders.

REA Group posted a 6% decrease in revenue for its 2020 financial year and a 9% decrease in profit to $268.9m

Just a word of warning. Don’t be tricked by their TV ads. They have purposely hired a stereotyped male actor who is made out to look like an idiot in front of his family. If you haven’t seen the ads as yet, here’s REA’s new campaign against off-market selling. 

Nowadays there are lots of different ways that you can sell your property and every person’s circumstances need to be assessed individually.

There’s no One-Size-Fits-All approach to selling your home, especially if it’s an acreage property.

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How’s The Acreage Market?

Currently there are 381 acreage properties For Sale across the region. This total includes 207 acreage properties For Sale throughout The Hawkesbury, 116 throughout The Hills district and another 58 acreages For Sale within Sydney’s North-West acreage areas of Penrith and Blacktown. 

There were another 22 new acreage listings come onto the market this week to kick-off the Spring market. There were only 7 acreage properties Sold this week which and there are currently 22 acreage properties ‘Under Contract’ across the region which shows that there’s a lot of buyer activity in the acreage market at the moment.

Out in the field this week, the 5 acres property at 114 Fisher Road, Maraylya went Under Contract and four other properties have been negotiated which should exchange during this week or early next week.

I launched 2 off-market acres properties yesterday, one at 10 Bennelong Place, East Kurrajong and the other at 9 Avon Place, Windsor Downs which looks like it’s already been sold. 

Plus yesterday I listed 2 more amazing acreage properties which are going to be launched ‘off-market’. One is an incredible dual-accommodation property which is seriously like living in a resort and the other is an incredible opportunity for equestrian buyers looking for a quality home on top-quality acres.

It’s been a hectic week and it looks like it’s only getting busier between now and Christmas. If you’re looking to sell your acreage, I’m currently working with heaps more buyers looking to move onto acres than there were this time last year.

Plus, if you’re looking to buy acreage and want to get in early for any of my ‘off-market’ acres listings, make sure to check out... www.offmarketacres.com.au

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 Happy Father’s Day and bye for now.

.Regards

Greg Vincent

Acreage Market Wrap - 29th 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?

In BIG NEWS this week, the REINSW have advised members that NSW Auctions do not have an exemption on the Heath Order governing public gatherings. This means that when conducting an auction we must contain the amount of people to a maximum of 20 (excluding the Vendor(s), Agent(s) and Auctioneer). 

For example, we held an auction today at 40 Pitt Street, Richmond where there were 5 registered bidders and we had to turn several onlookers away. The home was passed-in at $1.2m. There have been several other interested parties who I’m currently in discussions with who are keen to negotiate outside of auction conditions.

Anyway, so getting back to this new 20 people rule. The Office of Fair Trading have been advised that they are only to take an advisory and assistance measure on this new ruling today - meaning that no fines can be issued today. 

It is important that all agents in NSW adapt to these changes where possible from today. From Monday onwards, the OFT will be able to issue on the spot fines for those agents who do not adhere to this new rule.

For many of our future auctions we will be recommending the use of Live Streaming or other purpose-built online platforms like Auction Now where required. We may also have no option but to only allow registered bidders to attend the auction and ask anyone else to watch the auction from the comfort of their home via the Auction Now platform. 

The requirements for in-room auctions and open for inspections do have an exemption from the Health Order governing public gatherings, however agents must adhere to the 4sqm density and social distancing requirements at all times for this exemption to remain. 

REINSW are working hard to see what exemptions can be in place by next weekend, if any and I will keep you up to date on any changes that occur. 

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate in reaching out to me.

In last week’s edition I shared our current Covid Safe guidelines for open homes and auctions. Here’s a link to them.

They have now been updated to include the latest Maximum of 20 people rule (excluding vendor(s), agents (s) and the auctioneer) at auctions. Note: It doesn’t matter if the auctions are held inside or in a paddock outside, the ruling of 20 must be adhered to where possible this weekend and it’s compulsory for all auctions from Monday onwards.

Something else that happened this week, is a place at 22 Galvin Road, Llandilo made it onto the Channel 7 News. You see I had a number of buyers tell me about this 5 acres property which was being advertised with a price guide of $1.15m - $1.25m, which was ridiculously below market value. Apparently there were over 80 groups inspect the property last weekend and the agent had 40 offers on the property. A sale for the property is believed to have been negotiated for over $1.6m.

The agent may find themselves in a bit of hot water for under quoting, but, it certainly goes to show that there are lots of acreage buyers out there looking to grab a bargain. It also means that there are currently 39 buyers out there who missed out on the property.

If you’re agent has been saying that there’s no acreage buyers out there, then I’m sorry but they’re simply not working this current acreage market effectively enough.

How’s The Acreage Market?

Currently there are 386 acreage properties For Sale across the region. This total includes 212 acreage properties For Sale throughout The Hawkesbury, 119 throughout The Hills district and another 55 acreages For Sale within Sydney’s North-West acreage areas of Penrith and Blacktown. 

There were another 21 new acreage listings come onto the market this week as we start to head into early Spring. There were 10 acreage properties Sold this week which is up by over 20% on the past 2 previous weeks, and there are currently 18 acreage properties ‘Under Contract’ across the region which is a good sign for the market ahead.

Out in the field this week, 26 Wavehill Avenue, Windsor Downs was sold for $1.95m and the sale of 22 Kimberley Lane, Windsor Downs looks like going through later this week and contracts were issued for the sale of the 45 acres property at 235 Stannix Park Road in Wilberforce. 

There’s been numerous offers submitted this week and there were lots of buyers out & about today, especially after over 50 enquiries this week about the 5 acre property at 114 Fisher Road, Maraylya. 

It’s been a busy week and it looks like getting even busier. I have 4 private inspections booked to show buyers through a couple of acreage properties tomorrow. One of the places is an ‘Off-Market’ Acres property.

If you’re looking to buy acreage and want early access to any of my ‘off-market’ listings too, make sure to check out... www.offmarketacres.com.au

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

Acreage Market Wrap - 22nd 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?

Buying or Selling real estate this Spring could be a very different experience this year.

You see, we’ve been advised that the Office of Fair Trading will commence conducting audits this weekend at both open for inspections and auctions. They will be closely monitoring social distancing and all other Covid Safe practices.

The Fair Trading inspectors will be ensuring that each agent has a copy of the businesses COVID Safe Plan and they’ll be making sure that agents are following the COVID Safe Plan.

For example, if you have queues leading into your home that are not 1.5m in spacing, if there are queues of people passing each other in stairwells and hallways, if there are groups of non-related parties bunching up at auctions agents may receive a fine or warning this weekend.

Other important items to consider are; 

- The 4sqm density requirement is a room by room requirement. For example, if a bathroom is only 7sqm, you may only allow 1 person into that area at a time...and this must be regulated. It is important to note that an agent is included in this density requirement, for example if a bedroom is 16sqm, the room is allowed 4 people in it at a time, if an agent is in the room then only 3 attendees can be in the room with the agent, and they must be socially distanced. 

- Agents must register every client for tracing purposes. 

- It’s important to avoid having any items available for clients inspecting the property that multiple people may touch. For example, having a display contract for multiple parties to look through is not hygienic, it would be better to provide access to a digital copy of the contract.

- When talking with clients, agents need to ensure that they are keeping at least 1.5M away from any party including team members. If social distancing isn’t possible, a mask and disposable gloves are good options.

- Displaying Covid19 safe signage throughout the home is advised to keep the requirements top of mind for the clients inspecting the property. 

- An agent and businesses have responsibility to keep their staff and clients safe, it is isn’t compulsory but it’s suggested that our teams use masks and gloves to mitigate any risk and have masks and gloves available for customers if they would like to use them. 

- We provide hand sanitiser upon entry and ensure all clients use this before entering the home. 

- Bidding cards should be disposed of after use and wiped with disinfectant before handing over to each registered party. 

- Agents can’t just assume that the auctioneer asking people to space 4sqm is enough at an auction; having team members at high traffic auctions and open homes directing social distancing is another part of the COVID Safe Plan.

UPDATED 29/8/2020 : Maximum of 20 people rule (excluding vendor(s), agents (s) and the auctioneer) at auctions. Note: It doesn’t matter if the auctions are held inside or outside, the ruling of 20 must be adhered to where possible this weekend and it’s compulsory for all auctions from Monday onwards.

Fair Trading Inspectors are authorised officers under the Public Health Act 2010 and will conduct inspections of agencies, including checking COVID-19 Safety Plans. Agents who do not have an active COVID-19 Safety Plan can face a fine of $5,000.

I see this as a really good thing for our industry, especially as we start to head into the busy Spring market, because if there’s an outbreak which is traced back to an auction or an Open For Inspection, then the Government would flick the switch and we’d likely see restrictions imposed like we previously experienced during lockdown which would mean no auctions and no opens during the busiest time of the year.

So if any agents are watching this or if anyone is out there looking to buy or sell a property please make sure that there’s a COVID Safe Plan in place so we can all do our bit to keep the market moving forward.

How’s The Acreage Market?

Currently there are 384 acreage properties For Sale across the region. This total includes 210 acreage properties For Sale throughout The Hawkesbury, 122 throughout The Hills district and another 52 acreages For Sale within Sydney’s North-West acreage areas of Penrith and Blacktown. 

There were 19 new acreage listings come onto the market this week. There were only 8 acreage properties Sold this week which was the same number as last week, and there are currently 21 acreage properties ‘Under Contract’ across the region which shows that the market is definitely moving forward.

Out in the field this week, we launched 3 acreage properties this week. 

I was out early this morning and grabbed a couple of photos of the sunrise over the  equestrian property at 201 Willeroo Drive, Windsor Downs. This 11.7 acres property with a modern-style 5BR home has already had a number of buyers showing some strong interest, especially because of its well-established agistment business which is currently under-capitalised, yet it provides an excellent passive income. 

I’ve received a lot of enquiry about the 5.9 acres property at 1-5 Dodford Road, Llandilo and we had a steady flow of buyers through the Open Home for the 5 acre property at 114 Fisher Road, Maraylya today with a couple of contracts already issued after only being launched online yesterday. 

At this stage, it looks like there’ll be a good turn out at next week’s auction of 40 Pitt Street in Richmond. We are suggesting that all interested parties pre-register to ensure that they’re opportunity to purchase isn’t impacted by onlookers.

I have another ‘Off-Market’ Acres listing becoming available to inspect this week and more coming up to kick-off the Spring season.

If you’re looking to buy acreage and want early access to any of my ‘off-market’ listing, make sure to check out... www.offmarketacres.com.au

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

Acreage Market Wrap - 15th Aug 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?

In this episode I’ll be sharing the number one thing that you absolutely must do if you’re thinking of selling your acreage property this Spring.

But, before I tell you about that, I’d like to cover off on a couple of other important things that have happened this week.

Firstly, the Herron Todd White Report for August came out this week, and it was interesting to see on the property clock that the Sydney market had moved from last month’s 1.30 spot on the clock (which is the Starting to Decline position) and it has moved to the Declining Market 3 o’clock position.

Now at first glance, this may sound like more bad news for the acreage sector, but actually it’s not. In fact, when you take a closer look at the property clock, you’ll see that the opposite is actually happening to acreage lifestyle property with the Southern Highlands firmly position at the 7 o’clock position which is the Start of Recovery phase.

This is why it’s important not to get too caught up with the negative media reports and updates about Sydney’s auction clearance rates when looking at trying to understand what’s happening to the acreage market, especially when you see that coastal lifestyle areas like the Central Coast and Coffs Harbour have now moved up to the 9 o’clock Rising Market position on the property clock. Buyers looking in these areas are often looking to escape the city.

...and as property expert, John McGrath said earlier this week,

“Working from home is becoming an accepted option for many workers as we continue life with COVID-19.

This is prompting many city dwellers to consider relocating to leafier, more affordable suburban areas of their capital city or regional areas where they can enjoy a better lifestyle.

The great news is the buying power of homeowners in inner city areas is much greater in the middle to outer suburbs and especially strong in popular seachange and treechange regional areas.”

...and as further lockdowns are imposed and Social Distancing becomes the new norm, there will be even more Sydneysiders ‘heading for the hills’ to escape the confinement of city life, which means that right now is a perfect time to ride the upward trend and invest in acreage.

Something else that’s been positive after all this recent rainfall is that all the dams are nice and full for all the farmers across the region, and Warragamba Dam is now at 99.3% capacity.

Recently the government announced that they’re now looking at raising the dam wall by 17 metres instead of the original 14 metres proposed for flood mitigation.

While we’re still waiting for the Environmental Impact Statement to be released and for the cabinet to approve the design & construction, the potential downstream impacts to the Hawkesbury & Nepean Valley if we get another deluge of rainfall could mean significant flooding across the local region.

Yet, even with Warragamba Dam sitting at close to 100% capacity, according to Sydney Water we are still under Level 1 Water Restrictions which is absolutely absurd. In fact the NSW Government should actually be encouraging us to use more water, because they’re only going to have to open the flood gates and have megalitres of water pouring out over the spillway, which will cause localised flooding and see the water go to complete waste as it ends up running out into the ocean.

They should lift the restrictions immediately and be doing an advertising campaign encouraging people to enjoy longer showers or have a soak in the bathtub, use the full flush on the toilets instead of half flushing, hose down pathways & essentially encourage consumers to waste water until the dam level drops back down to around 80 per cent, but, unfortunately I don’t think any politician will have the common sense or the guts to do it. Anyway, it will be interesting to see if they actually do anything at all.

Now here’s my big tip for you this week. It’s the number one thing that you absolutely must do if you’re thinking of selling your acreage property this Spring

...and that is ‘book the stylist now’.

You see, I’ve spoken with a number of property stylists this week and some of them are now completely booked out weeks in advance and if you don’t book them in advance, then it will have a domino effect and can hold back the professional photo-shoot which could delay the launch of your property online.

If your place doesn’t need property styling then this won’t be an issue, but if your place needs some sprucing up to help attract more buyers, then you’re best to contact a property stylist sooner rather than waiting.

If you need the details of a couple of local property stylists that I’ve worked with recently and simply can’t recommend highly enough, then simply get in contact with me and I’ll send you their information.

If you’re worried that your place is a bit messy and needs too much work before getting it ready to sell, but you’d like to take advantage of the current market and get moving this Spring, then starting off with our ‘Off-Market’ Acres strategy might be a really good option for you to consider.

If you’d like some more information about how selling your acreage ‘Off-Market’ works, simply visit www.offmarketacres.com.au

How’s The Acreage Market?

Currently there are 378 acreage properties For Sale across the region. This total includes 207 acreage properties For Sale throughout The Hawkesbury, 118 throughout The Hills district and another 53 acreages For Sale within Sydney’s North-West acreage areas of Penrith and Blacktown.

There were 13 new acreage listings come onto the market this week. There were only 8 acreage properties Sold this week but a really positive sign is that there are 19 acreage properties ‘Under Contract’ across the region.

Out in the field this week, we’ve already had over 30 groups through the home at 40 Pitt Street in Richmond with several interested parties looking to downsize from nearby acres. It’s definitely worth checking out if you’re looking for something a bit special.

Also this week there was a lot of activity happening in Windsor Downs with 45 Archer Lane selling for $1.8m, both 22 Kimberley Lane and 26 Wavehill Avenue going ‘Under Contract’ as well as the equestrian property at 201 Willeroo Drive set to come onto the market with some information about the property having been emailed out to my acreage database yesterday plus I recorded a walkthrough video which was featured on Facebook on Thursday afternoon.

I have several ‘Off-Market’ Acres listings coming up over the next few weeks.

If you’re looking to buy acreage and want early access to any of my ‘off-market’ listing, make sure to check out... www.offmarketacres.com.au

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

Acreage Market Wrap - 8th 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? 

This week, property expert John McGrath listed the stimulus programs that are keeping our property prices stable.

It’s interesting to see how the Coronavirus pandemic is impacting the housing market in different areas and how each of the Stimulus packages like Jobkeeper, Jobseeker, Early access to superannuation, Loan deferrals, Help for small business, HomeBuilder and Big stamp duty breaks in NSW are playing a critical role throughout the property sector.

If you’d like to get more detailed information about the article from John McGrath, here’s the link.

Currently we are experiencing a pre-Spring surge of activity and it looks like a lot of people are getting in ahead of the traditionally busy Spring market in an effort to secure their next move.

These first few weeks of August look like being a great time to capitalise on an early-mover advantage, especially if further restrictions start to be imposed in NSW.

With the NSW Government finally deciding to impose compulsory 14 day isolation for people coming in from Victoria as well as overseas travellers, we may be able to keep lockdown restrictions to a minimum.

However, if we start to see a significant increase in COVID-19 cases in NSW, we may see similar restrictions to conducting Open Homes and On-site Auctions as we experienced earlier this year.

So if you’re thinking about buying an acreage property and you need to sell your property to buy, then you might want to consider getting everything prepared like, doing your agent interviews and getting a couple of Market Appraisals (it’s always good to get a 2nd opinion), get contracts prepared and even have all of your professional photographs and video taken so that you can be ready to go onto the market when you find the right acreage home.

The same goes with anyone thinking of selling their acreage, right now could be the time to get the ball rolling with a similar preparation process so that you can be ready to strike while the irons hot. 

...and speaking of striking while it’s hot.

How’s The Acreage Market?

Currently there are 380 acreage properties For Sale across the region. This total includes 212 acreage properties For Sale throughout The Hawkesbury, 117 throughout The Hills district and another 51 acreages For Sale within Sydney’s North-West acreage areas of Penrith and Blacktown. 

There were 24 new acreage listings come onto the market this week (that’s nearly 3 times the number of new listings than there were this time last week, which makes me think that the Spring market may be arriving a bit earlier than expected this year).

There were only 5 acreage properties Sold this week but a really positive sign is that there are 25 acreage properties ‘Under Contract’ across the region.

Out in the field this week, negotiations have been happening thick & fast as several properties are currently in the process of going ‘Under Contract’ after competitive bidding amongst numerous buyers with multiple offers put forward to my clients on several acreage properties and several sales are now underway.

Also, this week I listed an off-market acreage property in Windsor Downs which is set on 8 acres, with an existing equestrian business and a modern-style homestead which has potential for dual accommodation which could also provide additional income potential.

It’s an excellent opportunity for someone looking for extra income as well as a relaxing acreage lifestyle where you can simply sit back in style and count the money rolling in. I’ve already had a number of buyers inspect the property within the first 24 hours and I don’t think it will be available for long.

If you’d like to know more about this property, get in contact with me.

So, if you’re looking to buy an acreage property and would like to get early access to any of these places that I list ‘off-market’ , make sure to visit... www.offmarketacres.com.au

Also, if you’re thinking about downsizing from acres, make sure you check out the video we did on Thursday for the property at 40 Pitt Street, Richmond. It’s going to be ‘hot property’ when we officially launch that amazing home to the market early next week.

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

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

Acreage Market Wrap - 26th July 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?

Recently, I’ve had a couple of people ask me “should I buy an acreage property now or should I wait?”
So, this week I’ll share some insights that may help to answer this important question...

Figures out this week showed that Sydney’s north-west is the sole pocket of the city that has escaped house price falls despite the pandemic taking a toll across the property market, with new infrastructure and blocks of vacant land luring home-buyers. Domain’s latest House Price Report found that House prices rose 3.4 per cent in the region – which takes in suburbs from Epping to Kellyville Ridge – with the median price rising to $1.35 million in the three months to June.

Typically there are a lot of homeowners living within this North West area who feel crammed in and are confined to a smaller residential blocks who aspire to move onto a larger parcel or an acreage property in search of more space and a quieter lifestyle.

As the value of their property has increased by over 3 per cent, and acreage hasn’t experienced a similar increase as yet, making a move onto acreage has become a more achievable option and with historically low mortgage rates, making the lifestyle change onto acreage is currently at the most affordable levels that I’ve seen in years.

Also, as Peter Switzer reported, Australia’s economic outlook is so good that The AFR says the three credit ratings agencies have reconfirmed our AAA-rating at the top of the list, ahead of Canada, Denmark, Finland & Germany.

And as economist from Goldman Sachs, pointed out: “The silver lining is that Australia’s relatively strong fiscal position means that there remains scope for a significant further increase in fiscal support should it be required.”

“Australia has experienced 29 years of economic growth without a recession and has the longest economic growth amongst the major developed world.

One final point needs to be made. Given what this damn virus has done to economies and people worldwide, the fact that it looks like our economy will contract by only 0.25% for last financial year (that ended on June 30) and then only a further 3.75% for 2020 before growing at 2.5% next year, it shows how good our economy is.

To put the economy into a bit of perspective, as Switzer also reported back in May, the Government’s rescue plan from the massive economic effects of the Coronavirus will create a huge budget deficit of $143 billion this financial year, followed up by $133 billion. But the cost to the taxpayer will be, wait for it, $3!

Sure it is $3 a week — so that’s around $150 a year or one cup of coffee a week! That’s not a bad price to pay considering how bad this damn virus could’ve been if the Government had gone cheap on the rescue plan.

These figures come from Chris Richardson, an economist at Deloitte’s Access Economics and being an ex-Treasury guy in a past life, his numbers are credible.”

If you'd like to know more about these stats, here’s a link to Peter Switzer's article.

Now, not only have we seen median price growth happening within the North West which will drive acreage buyer activity, but on top of that, it’s important that you are aware that there’s a number of other factors, and today I'll share 5 of them with you which I believe will have a positive impact on acreage property prices and you may want to seriously reconsider how each of them will play out before deciding to sit on the sidelines waiting to see how this all plays out.

1. The upcoming release of Marsden Park North & Schofields West will see an influx of cashed up acreage buyers who end up having no choice but to sell up their existing acreage to developers and many of these displaced property owners will be looking to relocate onto nearby acreage

...and because it’s likely that a large percentage of these buyers will enter the acreage market at around the same time, they will end up creating a very competitive environment and will likely end up having to pay a premium to secure acreage properties in fringe suburbs like Windsor Downs, Llandilo, Berkshire Park, Londonderry, Oakville, Maraylya, Kenthurst & Annangrove. These buyers will end up setting new record benchmarks for acreage prices and acreage prices throughout other suburbs across the region should also benefit from price increases.

We experienced a similar influx of cashed up buyers from other development areas in 2015/2016 where the acreage prices climbed dramatically.

Plus, as more and more development is released, we will also experience an influx from a lot of similarly displaced acreage buyers moving across from the acreages around the aerotropolis in suburbs like Badgerys Creek, Rossmore & Kemps Creek.

2. When a vaccine is found for COVID-19, along with the increase development & roll-out of the 15 minute Coronavirus testing, the confidence in the Australian economy and demand in the property market will strengthen, especially in the acreage sector as foreign investment increases, the NSW Government rolls out more construction projects along with Social Distancing providing more flexibility in the workplace which will enable less people to be stuck working in city office blocks and plenty of people will take this opportunity to consider better work-life choices, which will increase demand for more relaxed surroundings for those working from home.

3. You may not be aware, but the acreage market previously missed out on the positive turnaround that the housing sector in the Inner City & The Hills district experienced immediately after the 2019 Federal election. The kick-on effect of the double digit median price growth which occurred during late 2019 to early 2020 was literally only a matter of weeks away from increasing prices in the acreage sector, but the price growth stalled when the Coronavirus Stage 3 level lockdowns were imposed on Australia.

4. There was a significant shift that happened during the lockdown period. You see there were a lot of people reassessing where and how they live, and as lockdowns eased, I witnessed a dramatic increase in enquiry for premium lifestyle property from people who want to escape away from the hustle & bustle of the city. If NSW or parts of Sydney end up going into a 2nd wave of lockdowns like Victoria has, I believe that the appetite for acreage lifestyle property will only increase further once the lockdown restrictions are lifted.

5. Lastly, with the lowest interest rates in history, there are a lot of acreage owners who have had their property for sale for long periods who have a very realistic understanding of the current market. I sincerely believe that a vast majority of the acreage properties in this region are currently undervalued, especially when you consider the high prices being achieved and the strong demand for residential homes on small blocks of land that are currently selling amongst the North West housing sector of Sydney.

In fact, making the move from a residential home onto an acreage property could currently be at the most affordable changeover levels that they may ever see and with a large selection of acreage properties to choose from, right now could be the perfect time to finally make that dream lifestyle move onto acres.

How’s The Acreage Market?

Currently there are 389 acreage properties For Sale across the region. This total includes 214 acreage properties For Sale throughout The Hawkesbury, 124 throughout The Hills district and another 51 acreages For Sale within Sydney’s North-West acreage areas of Penrith and Blacktown.

There were 13 new acreage listings come onto the market this week, and there were another 9 acreage properties Sold this week, plus, there are currently 17 acreage properties ‘Under Contract’ across the region.

Out in the field this week, there was an increase in enquiry compared to last week and we had lots of interest at yesterday’s Open Homes. The properties at 45 Archer Lane, Windsor Downs and 6 Kingsley Close went ‘Under Contract’ this week and I’m currently in negotiations on a couple of other properties.

This week I will be launching a couple of places ‘Off-Market’. If you’re actively looking to purchase an acreage and want to get early access to any of these ‘Off-Market’ listings, make sure to register your interest at www.offmarketacres.com.au

If you’re thinking about selling and would like to discover the 12 Simple Steps designed specifically to help you maximise the value of your acreage property, don’t hesitate to give me a call on 0410 526 901.

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

Acreage Market Wrap - 18th July 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?

This week, “State governments across the country have been dusting off plans and boosting decision-making frameworks to speed up the rollout of projects to keep people in work and restart the economy.

The NSW Treasurer, Dominic Perrottet said “Now is the time for us to all work together to make decisions quickly and decisively to help create more opportunities for jobs and investment, right across the state,”

The NSW government has formed a new unit within the Department of Planning tasked with unblocking and fast-tracking state significant developments stuck in the system.

The new planning delivery unit (PDU) will act as a central point of escalation and acceleration for development projects alongside government agencies to streamline the state’s planning processes.

Planning minister Rob Stokes said the unit would now focus directly on resolving issues in major development applications so that decisions could move ahead faster.

The news follows a spate of announcements by the state government during recent months, which has seen upwards of 48 major projects having assessments finalised and fast-tracked.

The NSW government estimates that $13 billion in economic benefit will be injected into the economy through these rapid-fire construction initiatives, lifting the economy out of an expected coronavirus-triggered recession.

Policymakers explained that assessments under the acceleration program would not skip normal checks, balances or community consultation processes, but would instead focus on projects that could commence within six months.”

For example, the Marsden Park North and West Schofields final precinct plans are about to be released which will add another 10,000 homes to the local area, and yesterday I went to see an acreage property out at Mulgoa and whilst I was in the area I drove out to see how construction of the Western Sydney Airport was coming along.

It was such an incredible hive of activity and Premier, Gladys Berejiklian announced this week that the airport is currently well and truly on track to be ready to open as scheduled in 2026.

Both the aerotropolis and the release of land for housing development will have a big impact on acreage prices over the remainder of this decade and beyond.

Also, this week it was positive to see Housing Industry Association's Chief Economist Tim Reardon advise that new home sales have risen by 77.6 per cent in June, from a record low result in May.

"(This is) off the back of the Government’s HomeBuilder program announced at the beginning of the month,”

This result is a positive sign for acreage owners amongst the growth sectors as well as for developers plus the home construction industry.

In other news, “Australia always has been, and is perhaps now even more so, an extremely attractive place to invest money and due to Covid-19 there have been some recent changes which will impact Foreign Investors.

The key changes that affect foreign purchasers are:

* All proposed foreign investments into Australia, subject to the Act, will require approval, regardless of value or the nature of the foreign investor.

* Foreign Investment Review Board will extend timeframes for reviewing applications from 30 days to up to six months.”

I recently sold an acreage property to some buyers from overseas and I anticipate that there will be a lot more investment in blue chip acres by foreign investors in the near future.

How’s The Acreage Market?

Currently there are 388 acreage properties For Sale across the region. This total includes 218 acreage properties For Sale throughout The Hawkesbury, 120 throughout The Hills district and another 50 acreages For Sale within Sydney’s North-West acreage areas of Penrith and Blacktown.

There were 21 new acreage listings this week (which makes me think that there are some owners who are trying to get a head start on the Spring market), and there were only 9 acreage properties Sold this week, however, on a more positive note there are currently 22 acreage properties ‘Under Contract’ across the region.

Out in the field this week, there was really good numbers of groups out looking at today’s Open Homes with several parties already showing strong interest and the property at 11 Pitt Street, Windsor has just gone ‘Under Contract’.

This week I have appointments with a number of acreage owners who want to promote their property ‘Off-Market’, so if you’re looking to buy an acreage and want to get early access to any of these places, make sure to check out and register your interest at www.offmarketacres.com.au

If you’re thinking of selling and want to get a head start on the Spring market, you might also like to check out www.offmarketacres.com.au or give me a call on 0410 526 901 to see how we can best help you to 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

Acreage Market Wrap - 12th July 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?

This week there’s been a lot of concerns about the spread of the Coronavirus in Victoria and the 6 weeks lockdown imposed by the Victorian government. We need to be very careful to do whatever we can to avoid a 2nd phase of the pandemic occurring in New South Wales, because it would be another massive blow to our local economy.

Even though the 6 weeks lockdown has only just been imposed on a number postcodes of Melbourne, earlier this week a buyer wanted to fly up from Melbourne to inspect an acreage property but we had to politely decline the inspection and postpone the appointment until we can be sure that our clients are not going to be put at any risk.

It’s going to be very interesting to see how this next phase of Covid-19 plays out here in Australia over the next six weeks.

In the meantime, it was good to see the decision by the Australian Banking Association to extend the loan repayment deferral period for another four months, which allows more breathing space for mortgage holders after September.

In other news, a couple of weeks ago the NSW Government announced that they predicted Sydney will need another 1 million homes by 2041 to keep up with the population growth...and when you consider the news this week that Hambledon Park (known locally as Peels Dairy), the 253 hectares (625 acres) farm on The Terrace in North Richmond has been sold for $60 million to businessman John Camilleri, I predict that before this decade is over there’ll be development approval for a couple of thousands homes on this property.

You see, the new owners were involved with getting The Gables development in Box Hill approved through State Planning and the same developer has recently gained approval for the 580 lot subdivision in Glossodia, and Hawkesbury City Council will have very little control over stopping the housing development of ‘Hambledon Park’ in the near future.

To get the subdivision through faster, it's likely the developers will have to contribute millions of dollars towards the proposed 2nd river crossing at North Richmond on top of the $200 million allocated towards the construction of a new river crossing in last year's Federal budget. Developer funding towards projects will continue to play a huge role in driving Sydney's economy.

There's plenty more that's going to be said about this matter over the coming months, however one thing is for sure, the proposed 2nd river crossing at North Richmond is still several years away from being completed, and the crossing needs to be designed and built to allow for future traffic volumes, not just based upon the current issues experienced by the commuters trying to cross the river.

How’s The Acreage Market?

Currently there are 391 acreage properties For Sale across the region. This total includes 221 acreage properties For Sale throughout The Hawkesbury, 122 throughout The Hills district and another 48 acreages For Sale within Sydney’s North-West acreage areas of Penrith and Blacktown.

There were 11 new acreage listings this week, and there were only 11 acreage properties Sold this week (which is creating more of a balanced market). Plus, there are currently 19 acreage properties ‘Under Contract’ across the region.

Out in the field this week, enquiries for acreages increased slightly and there was some very competitive bidding between buyers for both 6 O’Dell Street, Vineyard and 51-55 Cherrybrook Chase, Londonderry.

Both of these properties were Sold over the past few days.

Vineyard

6 O’Dell Street

Londonderry

51-55 Cherrybrook Chase

The auction campaign for the property at Londonderry generated over 100 acreage enquiries and there were 7 registered bidders, which means that with these 2 properties now Sold, the underbidders who missed out are now actively in the market and are searching for a suitable acreage property to buy.

So, if you’re thinking of selling your acreage property I may already be working with your ideal buyer, and we could match them to your property with a $Zero marketing investment via my hugely successful ‘Off-Market Acres’ system.

For buyers on the look out for an acreage property, keep a close eye out over the next few weeks because I have a number of ‘Off-Market Acres’ listings that I’ll be promoting exclusively to my database of acreage buyers. If you’d like to get early-bird access to any of my ‘Off-Market Acres’ you can find out more and register for FREE at www.offmarketacres.com.au

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

Acreage Market Wrap - 4th July 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?

The Real Estate Institute of Australia has welcomed, the draft report of the Independent NSW Review of Federal Financial Relations. Supporting the road to recovery.

In summary, the report noted a strong case for reforming the GST which is now 20 years old, and scaling back inefficient taxes, which includes stamp duty on property transactions.

“The REIA supports the call for the newly formed National Cabinet to commence the long overdue discussion to adjust the GST and remove inefficient taxes such as stamp duty on property transactions to boost economic growth at this crucial time and not let this report gather dust on the bookshelf as others have,” said Mr Adrian Kelly, President of the Real Estate Institute of Australia.

At a Glance:

• Taxes are one of the factors determining investment in housing

• The housing sector is one of the most heavily taxed sectors of the Australian economy

• Stamp duties on the transfer of property are the second-largest source of state tax revenue (generating 24 per cent of state tax revenue) yet they are a highly volatile tax, with revenue fluctuating by over 50 per cent

A notable earlier review, the Henry Review stated stamp duties on conveyances were inconsistent with the needs of a modern tax system and should be replaced with a more efficient means of raising revenue.

“Economic analysis shows that economic activity in Australia can be lifted by shifting the composition of taxes from high economic cost State taxes to lower cost Australia-wide taxes, without changing the overall level of tax revenues.”

For more information about possible changes to Stamp Duty, you may like to check out the following links...

https://www.therealestateconversation.com.au/news/2020/07/03/strong-case-reforming-gst-and-reducing-reliance-harmful-taxes/1593738072

https://www.mcgrath.com.au/advice/articles/john-mcgrath-stamp-duty-pay-upfront-or-yearly-tax

https://www.gregvincent.tv/blog/Why-NSW-Govt-Proposed-Changes-To-Stamp-Duty-Need-To-Be-Rolled-Out-Retrospectively

Since Wednesday, another ten thousand first-home buyers are now able to apply for federal government assistance that could shave years off their mortgages.

The second intake of the much-anticipated First Home Loan Deposit Scheme is designed to give first-home buyers a leg-up in the property market by providing banks with a guarantee for up to 15 per cent of a property’s value.

It means struggling savers can secure their first mortgage with a deposit as little as 5 per cent and avoid paying costly lenders’ mortgage insurance.

Under the eligibility criteria, borrowers who have been approved for the scheme have 90 days to exchange contracts on a property, so we should see a lot of sales happening in the bottom end of the housing market over the next quarter.

For more information, see the link below...

https://www.domain.com.au/news/thousands-to-purchase-first-property-in-federal-governments-second-first-home-loan-deposit-scheme-intake-965808/

Also, this week, John McGrath answered 3 important questions for anyone looking to invest in property, like:-

1. What’s happening with property prices?

2. What’s happening with weekly rents?

3. What should investors do now?

One of John’s tips was,

“Consider regional satellite cities or desirable lifestyle areas. They should get a great boost from more people working from home, which will incentivise regional relocations in coming years.”

...and I’ve already noticed an increase in enquiry from investors looking for quality ‘land-bank’ acreage opportunities around the fringes of Sydney.

To find out more about John McGrath’s tips check out…

https://www.mcgrath.com.au/advice/articles/john-mcgrath-rents-investments-and-what-to-do-next

How’s The Acreage Market?

Currently there are 402 acreage properties For Sale across the region. This total includes 230 acreage properties For Sale throughout The Hawkesbury, 123 throughout The Hills district and another 49 acreages For Sale within Sydney’s North-West acreage areas of Penrith and Blacktown.

There were 20 new acreages come onto the market this week, and there were only 4 acreage properties Sold this week (but that’s on top of the 36 acreages that were Sold over the past fortnight). Plus, there are currently 21 acreage properties ‘Under Contract’ across the region.

Out in the field, there were a lot buyers out & about looking at acreage properties this week. We had a good turn out at today’s Open Homes, even though it’s start of the school holidays and lots of people have been anxious to get away after home-schooling and the recent Coronavirus lockdown. Plus, there were quite a few buyers attending the midweek Twilight Viewings we held earlier in the week. Enquiry level for acreage continued to be strong but it was down slightly on last week.

Coming up this week, it will be very interesting to see what happens at this Saturday’s auctions of 11 Pitt Street, Windsor and 51-55 Cherrybrook Chase, Londonderry. There’s been lots of interest in both of these properties with several contracts issued. If you’re in the area on Saturday feel welcome to come along and check out either of these live auctions.

Finally, as I’ve mentioned previously, if you want to stay up-to-date with what’s really going on out there in the Australian property market make sure to follow the #OZpropertyAlive hashtag.

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

Acreage Market Wrap - 27th June 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?

Whilst there’s been a bit of uncertainty about the possibility of a second wave of COVID-19 restrictions in the media this week, it certainly hasn’t stemmed the flow of interest from buyers in the acreage sector. In fact, there seem to be a lot more people now looking to escape away from the city life and they’re seeing this North West part of Sydney as a convenient & affordable rural lifestyle option for their family.

Speaking of affordable, I caught up with a client the other day and we got talking about the current interest rates and some of the incredibly low home loan deals on offer today.

He was saying that he was recently quoted a fixed mortgage rate of only 2.19% and some lenders are even offering cashbacks of up to $2,000 to help you refinance.

There are some incredible deals available at the moment and if you’re planning to stay put for the next few years a home loan health check is definitely well worth your time & effort in the present climate, because chances are that you might be missing out on some substantial savings.

For anyone watching this who may be considering an upgrade from a residential block to an acreage lifestyle on Sydney’s fringes, you’ll find that acreage prices are currently about their most affordable level that they’ve been for the past 5 years.

…and if acreage buyer activity keeps increasing at the current rate and available acreage stock levels continue to decrease, the affordability gap looks like it will widen very quickly as upward pressure starts to drive price growth within the acreage sector.

You see, this next week is going be very interesting to watch what happens in the housing sector after the injection of an extra 10,000 first home buyers enter the market across Australia.

Many of these first home buyers have been hanging out for the 1st of July to hurry up and arrive so that they can try to snap-up the next batch of the Federal Governments First Home Loan Deposit Scheme allocations, and we could start to see activity increase in the market like we saw back in January when the first 10,000 became available.

We are already starting to see more activity in the acreage sector and when comparing the acreage stats, with where they were a few weeks ago, it’s now quite noticeable that acreage stock levels are steadily reducing during these Winter months and acreage sales are now on the increase.

How’s the Acreage Market?

Currently there are 399 acreage properties For Sale across the region (the first time there’s been less than 400 available for months). This total includes 234 acreage properties For Sale throughout The Hawkesbury, 114 throughout The Hills district and another 51 acreages For Sale within Sydney’s North-West acreage areas of Penrith and Blacktown.

There were 12 new acreages come onto the market this week, and there were another 20 acreage properties Sold this week (and that’s on top of the 16 acreages that were Sold last week). Plus, there are currently 19 acreage properties ‘Under Contract’ across the region.

Out in the field, there were a lot buyers out & about looking at acreages this week. We had a great turn out at today’s Open Homes, plus I was really surprised by the volume of buyers who attended our midweek Twilight Viewings earlier in the week, plus enquiries levels for acreage was still very strong and was up slightly on last week’s levels.

Coming up this week, I’ll be launching the 2 ‘Off-Market Acres’ properties to that I mentioned briefly last week. One’s an exclusive landmark riverfront 25 acres property on the Hawkesbury River. It’s an amazing property. The other is a very unique acreage opportunity that’s located in a prime position just on the outer fringes of the North West Growth Centre.

If you want to be among the first to see either of these 2 new ‘Off-Market Acres’ listings or would like access to the other ‘Off-Market Acres’ properties that I currently have available, simply register at www.OffMarketAcres.com.au

Finally, if you want to stay up-to-date with what’s really going on out there in the Australian property market make sure to follow the #OzPropertyAlive hashtag.

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