CCBR Business Review

20 R E S D I E N T I A L P R O P E R T Y R E V I E W THE YEAR 2020 has certainly been an interesting one for Central Coast real estate. Some predicted that the market would crash, how- ever surprisingly, the opposite has occurred in our region. While agents report- ed the slowest April on record, there was still growth on the coast during coronavirus lockdowns. According to CoreLogic, Central Coast property values grew by 0.2 per cent in the March-June period, while in Sydney values dipped down to -0.8 per cent. Since then, the local market has skyrock- eted. Annual growth as at 30 November was 8.4 per cent for the Central Coast, while Sydney was just 3.7 per cent. Fortunately for the entire nation, the year has ended on a bit of a high for real estate, with CoreLogic’s November Home Value Indices reporting dwelling value rises across every capital city and rest-of-state region. The success of the Central Coast market has been mainly attributed to new working from home conditions and record low inter- est rates. Mortgage payment deferrals also helped keep things afloat. The year started out strong, but by the end of March, the industry was forced to adapt to our new world by making a quick pivot to online inspections, 3D tours and video appointments. Director of McGrath Central Coast Jaimie Woodcock said that by June and into July it was becoming quite clear that the doom and gloom of the COVID market was in fact playing out in a very different manner than expected on the Central Coast. “The rush to move from Sydney was on, and we found levels of enquiry, open home inspections and registered bidders at auc- tions were at unprecedented numbers,” he said. McGrath, the coast’s largest agency with over 100 staff and nearly 2000 properties under management, sold $1 billion worth of property across all sectors in 2020. “During August, September, October and November we’ve seen many suburb records broken, average sale price increases of over 30 per cent in some suburbs, the highest auction clearance rates in Australia,” Mr Woodcock said. “We have some of the most searched suburbs on the main online portals across the country and the rental market is the strongest I’ve experienced in over 25 years in the local market. We’re experiencing inspections on properties with over 50 groups and 20 applications on a property is not unusual. The vacancy rate now sits well below 1 per cent across the Central Coast.” Wiseberry Principal Darin Butcher, who owns three offices on the northern end of the coast, gave similar feedback. “The first couple of weeks when COVID hit was tough, but pretty soon the Central Coast was thriving,” he said. “When people from the city realized that they could be more mobile and work from home, it just added a whole new per- spective on where you did business, and the Central Coast was just a great spot for people to come who always thought, ‘Hey, I’ll retire on the coast’ or, ‘I want to go there one day’ and they just made it happen.” Mr Butcher also noticed an increase in investors buying into the region. “We can see by that supply and demand that the rental prices have gone up. There’s no question about it, and they’ll continue to go up. Interest rates are coming down, investment prices are going up,” he said. “Investors are starting to buy because they are getting excellent returns. There is also talk of more interest rate drops – we are hearing about rates under two per cent, which is unbelievable.” Mr Woodcock said that there was an emerging market for properties over the $5 million mark on the Central Coast. “We’ve seen numerous sales this year, even over $6 million, and there’s no short- age of buyers prepared to pay these prices for quality property,” he said. “The big winners for me have been the rural market and the quality built homes near the beach. I’ve seen sales that represent a 40 per cent increase in value in the past 12 months alone around these two sectors.” Holiday house specialist Cathy Baker of Belle Property Central Coast said that throughout 2020 she had experienced high end holiday home inventors paying up to double figures for holiday homes, with some luxury holiday returns providing over $250,000 pa in returns. “The new trend is holidaying locally with family and friends, with overseas holidays replaced by holiday homes purchases,” she said. “I don’t see this changing in a while.” While the prestige market has performed well, local renters are finding it increasingly difficult to find a property, as Sydneysiders swarm the market and vacancy rates drop to a staggeringly low 0.5 per cent. In the previous edition of Central Coast Business Review, Ray White Terrigal agent Rod Amos suggested that the situation could see the region on the verge of a social crisis. “Less than 1 in every 200 rental proper- ties is available for rent. This presents a dire situation, a potential homelessness sce- nario,” he said. By Jess Verrender Top five residential sales for 2020 (settled) according to CoreLogic as at 8 Dec Residential property market thrives against all odds 350 Cullens Rd, Copacabana – sold 24 Nov for $5.3m (suburb record) 65 Forresters Beach Rd, Forresters Bech – sold 10 Jul for $5.2m (suburb record) 44 Ocean St, North Avoca – sold 25 Nov for $5m (suburb record) 32 Whalans Rd, Forresters Beach – sold 7 Jul for $5m 36 Coral Cr, Pearl Beach – sold 21 Feb for $5m 29 Green Point Road, Pearl Beach CENTRAL COAST BUSINESS REVIEW YEARBOOK 2020