Ray White Point Clare

What’s happening in our market? In our last report, we mentioned that despite the uncertainty of COVID-19 we were still experiencing good levels of buyer interest and activity. We weren’t without concerns however, as we awaited the potential impacts of lockdowns and associated employment losses on both the rental and sales markets. We are pleased to report though that the market has remained much stronger than anticipated. In fact, our leasing team experienced unprecedented demand for rental properties, leasing an average of 4-5 properties per week over the past 6 weeks. The trend driving this demand was increased interest from Sydneysiders looking to take advantage of prolonged work from home orders and secure better value properties on the Central Coast. This trend has also been evident in the sales market, with out of area buyers looking to upsize from inner city apartments and townhouses into detached family homes. Whilst this interest isn’t translating into rising prices, it has meant we’ve seen far less downward pressure on values than would be expected given the depth of the global economic downturn. In short, property prices on the Central Coast are holding up very well. In fact, there really has been only one limiting factor that has held the market back the past couple of months. A severe shortage of stock! The majority of our most recent sales we’ve had 3-4 buyers all making competitive offers, and it was a similar story for our leasing team with most properties receiving multiple quality applications to choose from. It’s certainly very easy to find reasons for inactivity given the bad news in the media, but it isn’t the reality on the Central Coast. Banks are still lending, rates are low, buyer demand is strong, and it’s the homeowners clever enough to see past the negativity and seize the opportunity that are going to reap the rewards. AndrewMacdonald Principal, RayWhite Point Clare