Ray White Frenchs Forest

The December quarter in the Forest saw significant community infrastructure delivered, including the opening of the new Northern Beaches Hospital and the completion of the Forest Way, Naree and Frenchs Forest Roads roadworks. The work onWarringah Road, Wakehurst Parkway and Aquatic Drive is expected to finish in early 2020. The delay in the announcement of Frenchs Forest re-zoning continues to affect property owners and we see many delayed sellers awaiting this long overdue planning decision. Residential sales volumes were down for the quarter. The small number of properties sold resulted in significant declines in the median price in all suburbs throughout the Forest, in some cases buyers purchasing at or below land value. The announcement of the decision to scrap the Ingleside land release after bushfire consideration was unexpected. The 3,500 dwellings planned for Ingleside will now need to be accommodated elsewhere on the Northern Beaches and the effect on Frenchs Forest is still to be determined. The Frenchs Forest business park continues to see space uptake and new development. Recent planning decisions have highlighted that commercially zoned land will be defended from urban encroachment and that the B7 lands remain a priority for long term employment growth. We had welcome community engagement for the proposed Northern Beaches tunnel with a portal ontoWakehurst Parkway. This long term proposed infrastructure remains conceptual with 2019 shaping up as an important year for key planning steps. MeganMacKay Principal and Licensee RayWhite Frenchs Forest What’s happening in our market?