There’s no secret the Sydney and Melbourne property markets are too heated for investors and the transition into Spring doesn’t look like it’ll change a thing.
Even though Spring Has Sprung and it was to be expected a flurry of properties would hit the Australian market, the opening September weekend saw 2074 less properties go under the hammer than this time last year.
There were a mere 662 total auctions in Sydney for the opening week of September and only 810 in Melbourne according to Core Logic Data.
Property commentator and Principal of Suburbanite, Anna Porter, describes these outcomes as ‘abysmal’ and advises investors to look well beyond these markets.
“119 of the 662 properties in Sydney were passed in and 140 sold prior to auction. We’re seeing agents take whatever they can get because the market just isn’t great in Sydney,”
“It’s a real buyer’s market but the prices aren’t coming down as much as expected so there’s still a large portion of buyers simply priced out,” said Porter.
Gareth Woodham, Property Valuer, Melbourne expert and Commentator added: “As for Melbourne, the city where everything sells at Auction, we saw only 35% of properties sold under the hammer,”
“The results show the lack of confidence in these heated markets and display the real misfortune being experienced all over from the Royal Commission and interest rate hikes, outside of the RBA cycles,”
“Confidence just simply isn’t there and buyers are folding on deals left, right and centre,” added Woodham.
Contrary to these struggling markets, there is some good news for investors that are open to looking further afield than the east coast powerhouse markets of Melbourne and Sydney. Anna is an avid supporter of Adelaide and picks it as a real hotspot for growth, advising Sydneysiders to take their money and invest interstate instead of in Sydney’s dying market.
She points to all the infrastructure and developments rolling through like the more than $89 billion naval shipping contracts, $2.4 billion recently opened Royal Adelaide Hospital and the $330 million Adelaide Casino upgrade.
“I personally purchased in Woodcroft, South Australia this year for my own portfolio because I see the potential and a great growth story for Adelaide over the next 3-5 years. With some great buys priced between $360,000 – $400,000 in the area that I purchased, coupled with an attractive rental return it makes a lot of sense for investors,” said Ms Porter.
Porter however cautions again against some of the Northern pockets around Elizabeth that many investment ‘experts’ push. Other markets Porter cautions investors on include the over-supplied Brisbane unit market that she sees time and time again people being pushed into.
Instead, she suggests looking at free-standing houses in the Queensland capital within 25 minutes of the CBD with a tip for investors to get into three suburbs.
“The gentrifying bayside suburb of Wynnum and overlooked areas like Nundah and Banyo are great for investors as they have good access to the airport and the city,”
“They’re like the middle children to Chermside, Kedron and Northgate and of course have some major developments coming their way too!”
Anna notes the $1.1 billion mixed-use healthcare project, Herston Quarter and the $3 billion Queens Wharf Entertainment Precinct.
“A huge supply chain of employment is going to come off the back of these projects and the many more planned for the state,”
“The spike in employment opportunities will mean people need a place to rent…”