Many property commentators won’t forecast the year ahead and discuss what and where they think you should be buying in 2022. What markets are hot? What markets are not? What should you avoid?
Anna Porter, Valuer, Property Commentator and Suburbanite CEO shares her thoughts on the year ahead for Australian real estate. Anna and her company are totally unaligned with any particular real estate products, markets or people. Her commentary is well-researched by her team of valuers and analysts and is unaffiliated and unfiltered – she tells it how it is.
As a former valuer, Anna had seen many poor property decisions lead to financial distress, and even mortgagees in possessions tearing families apart. This disheartened her so she is now driven by helping individuals avoid the traps of the spruikers and the cowboys in the industry today.
2022 Hits: Adelaide, Perth and Sunshine Coast markets set to stay strong in 2022
2022 Misses: Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane Metro, Canberra and the Regional
Markets set to slow and put buyers back in the driver’s seat
“The 2021 property market was peppered with locked down borders, the QLD Olympic announcement and a tweak to the lending regulations closing out the year with tougher lending policies,” shares Porter.
“But, no market was left behind in the massive upswing the Australian real estate market experienced for the best part of the year.”
Anna Porter is calling it for 2022, buyers will get their power back in most markets – which will be a huge relief for buyers that have had it tough all year.
Anna has crunched the numbers and will share her top pick for where buyers will get their power back in 2022 with cooling market conditions.
According to Porter, the top 5 markets ready to cool for 2022 and put buyers back in the driver’s seat are Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane Metro, Canberra and the Regional Markets.
“Having said this, we still see a hot market continuing through 2022 in Adelaide, Perth and Sunshine Coast,” she says.
“These hot markets are still being driven by more affordable pricing, high demand, strong infrastructure and a booming economy with people migrating from other states and plenty of employment to support this,”
“Buyers are getting priced out of Brisbane and will shift focus to the Sunny Coast for more affordability which in turn will continue to drive pricing there but may take a bit of the heat out of Brisbane, but don’t expect a price decline in Brisbane just yet,” says Porter.
Whilst it may not be as HOT, the focus on the Olympics and the major projects in the pipeline such as the Queens Wharf and Herston Quarter will see pricing still quite strong through 2022. While Perth and Adelaide are benefiting from construction booms in the private and infrastructure sectors.
The start of the buyers getting their power back is already starting to kick in for our major capitals as we come in to 2022.
“Over the last few weeks, we have seen a slight decline in auction clearance rates in the major capitals of Sydney and Melbourne now hovering in the 60% range which indicates there is a slight cooling of the market as we come in and out of Christmas,” reveals Porter.
“There have been fewer pre-auction sales and more passing in with lower buyer competition – likely attributed to the high prices starting to deter buyers and more stock coming to the market balancing out the supply and demand curve,”
“We expect this softening to continue in to 2022 and buyers should get their power back even more in to 2022.”
Porter suggests Canberra has hit a peak with pricing soaring and the median price point pushing past Melbourne. With this not being sustainable, she sees a market about to turn and slow down through 2022.
“The regional markets are the most likely to be impacted with borders reopening and travel coming back to interstate locations,” she shares.
“The regions will see less buyer attention from out of area investors and holiday makers buying their holiday homes,”
“This could even result in a pricing correction in some areas, with as much as 10%- 20% potentially being wiped off the market values in many regional locations.”
Ultimately, this is not a bad thing though as pricing has surged and many locals are completely priced out of their once affordable country towns.