What a year it has been. When we look back at the year 2022, we can reflect on a year of change. The signs of a softening market emerged towards late 2021, as we saw an uptake in the supply of housing come to market. For the first time in a long while, the talk in the media was that the market boom was coming to an end as the threat of interest rate rises began to take effect. This led to changed market conditions with more properties for buyers to choose from, as well as waning demand from buyers hesitant to purchase, fearing interest rate rises and falls in property prices were to come. As 2022 began there were also external factors influencing the property market. Suddenly, we had a combination of floods, the rising cost of living, rising petrol prices, the war in Ukraine, a Federal election pending, and the very real prospect of interest rate rises occurring. All of which created negative forces impacting any further rise in property prices. As we moved throughout the year it was quite clear that it was not only these factors but also then the reality of interest rate rises that led to market conditions changing very rapidly. We sensed the real turning point came around March 2022, where for the first time we started to see a decline in prices. Consequently, the impact of seven back-to-back interest rate rises, and still speculation of more to come, affected property prices. In most parts of the Central Coast, we have seen declines between 10% to 20% in a short space of time. Whilst this drop in value has been a shock for most people, the reality is that we’ve had rapid and phenomenal growth in prices in the two years prior. We are still seeing property prices hold values significantly greater than they were 3+ years ago. The time properties are taking to sell has increased, to nearly double the length of time compared to the previous two years. The number of properties sold each month has also decreased, and the rate of properties withdrawn from sale is increasing as not all sellers are prepared to meet the change in the market value of their home. A MESSAGE FROM OUR DIRECTORS
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