Ray White Point Clare

The Central Coast market continues to defy the odds with unprecedented interest from innercity buyers and tenants. We’ve experienced rental vacancy rates well below 1%, and such strong competition amongst prospective tenants that many are offering to pay significantly higher weekly rent in order to secure a property over other applicants. As a result, we desperately need more rental properties to meet the demand and encourage any local investors to review their current rent, as they may be missing out on potential returns. On the sales front, listings volume has started to increase, but is still well below the traditional average for this time of year. Coupled with the increased buyer demand we are seeing healthy levels of competition, good prices and low days on market, but this depends greatly on the price point. First home buyer properties are easily the most active, with significant levels of buyer interest below $650,000. Young families from Sydney looking to upgrade their lifestyle are driving interest in properties up to $900,000. With people only required to commute to their offices in Sydney a couple of times a week moving forward, buyer demand for high end properties near the train line is more hesitant than normal. We believe this is because the increased work flexibility has opened up more Central Coast suburbs as options, particularly those closer to the beaches, as the inconvenience of driving further to the station is less of a concern when not commuting all five weekdays. Whilst we are still seeing strong results for higher priced local properties, they are taking a little longer to sell as purchasers take their time assessing suburb choices right across the Coast. All in all, the ingredients for a promising end to the year are there. Strong buyer demand, loosening restrictions with regards to both COVID-19 and lending criteria, and perhaps most exciting of all, the very real prospect of a further interest rate cut. If you’re thinking of making a move, this could end up being one of the best times in a generation to do so. AndrewMacdonald Principal, RayWhite Point Clare What’s happening in our market?