I have discussed previously the property market is going through a lot of changes at the moment, coming out of the Royal Commission and also the frustrating predictions of doom and gloom from the media. I thought I would put together a bit of an outline of what I am seeing across the market from my perspective as an Advocate with over 15 years’ experience.

Whilst yes there was some cooling in the market over the previous 18 months a lot of this was due to the restrictions in available finance combined with the media wanting to see the market collapse to give them something to write about. These two points were exacerbated by a lack of good quality properties for sale and created somewhat of a perfect storm where people sat still.
This was across both the home buyer and the investor market.

As we have seen post the Federal election it appears there is more confidence in the market which has been mainly due to a couple of major changes, there being an actual result in the election, the banks starting to come back to the table and lend again, and what is rarely discussed in the media and by some of the so-called experts is the quality of the property available as people would be aware not all properties are equal. We only need to look at the issues surrounding the cladding debacle in modern apartments to see how somethings can go wrong.
I have noticed there is a higher quality of properties coming up for sale but with a backlog of pent up buyers we are seeing the market start to grow again but not across the board. We are still seeing apartments struggle in particular new builds and off the plan.

The property market doesn’t move as a homogeneous unit, with different area’s performing differently but also different styles of properties performing better than others. As a lot of my clients know I have always been very cautious of modern apartments in particular off the plan and with due reason as mentioned above, but what I have seen is the villa unit market continue to perform well as it offers more of an individual ownership feel even though they are normally part of a block with a body corporate. This gives owners and tenants some more feeling of individual ownership and thus we will continue to see this market grow well into the future, combined with developers lack of desire to build them due to not being an optimal use of the available land. Why build 8 villa units on a block when they could be 20 plus apartments.

As we head into the Spring market and see stock levels increase now more than ever making the right purchase be it for home ownership or investment becoming very important as unlike the share market the entry and exit costs are getting higher but also it takes time to find or sell a property.

Seeking independent advice about what best suits your requirements can take a look of the guess work out of the process but also save you a lot of time.

Particularly if you are looking at the property as a future development opportunity or to renovate and sell as the real world is not like an episode of the Block. As a firm that has not only advised clients around the process of renovation and development but done our own we are in a unique position to not only assist our clients in the acquisition and disposal of the property but putting you in touch with reputable builders and tradesman who can carry out the work to a high standard.

If you are thinking of buying or selling a property or just want to have a chat about what your options are please feel free to get in touch to organise a chat.