New Year Outlook for Residential Property Market

From both a selling and rental point of view, there are a number of considerations for both owners and prospective buyers/tenants to ponder. Traditionally, the new year period is very active. As with many aspects of one’s life, people tend to make significant decisions about their next steps and perhaps none more so than with their property matters.

The new year period is often the most active of any calendar year with people often on leave with their children or taking some out to enjoy the Australian summer.  This often means that buyers will have some down time to search for their next home or investment purchase. Sellers should certainly note such circumstances to maximise their result if the timing is suited otherwise.

Buyer confidence is on the up now that we appear to be near the end of (If we aren’t already) the regular increase in interest rates. Buyers will be starting to feel they have a more certain immediate future in their mortgage repayments.  This combined with the fact that there hasn’t been any notable decline in values since late 2022 as rates continued to rise, demonstrates that the Illawarra is a very resilient property market place.

Sellers have had a sustained period of having minimal competition since interest rate rises have been occurring.  Considering this has been the case for approximately 18 months, it is likely not to last for the long term. Should buyer confidence improve as it has most notably in Sydney in recent months, the Illawarra could well be a fast follower and may benefit sellers soon. Should this all develop, buyers may need to secure their purchase sooner rather than later.

MMJ have noted a settling down of rental increases in recent months, after the dramatic increases seen from approx 2021 through to early 2023. Real Estate Institute research also shows that vacancy rates in the Illawarra have now improved from approximately 1% (post covid period) to more recently over 2%. This is great news for prospective renters, but landlords may need to budget for a plateauing of rental values in the immediate future.