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Buyers looking to secure a bargain should look no further than Townsville, with sellers offering the biggest vendor discounts in Australia’s regional markets.

CoreLogic’s latest quarterly regional review, which analyses 25 of Australia’s largest non-capital city markets, found that Townsville sellers were, on average, offering a discount rate of 5.9 per cent to secure a sale on their house.

There be some hefty discounts out there yonder. Picture: Evan Morgan

But buyers should act fast, with that vendor discount rates falling from 7 per cent one year ago.

Townsville houses are also selling faster, down from a median days on market of 62 days a year ago to 55 days today.

The stunning renovated miners cottage in South Townsville has seen a “big price reduction” and is now listed for $339,000. Source: realestate.com.au

It is a similar story for units, with vendor discounting falling from 6.9 per cent to 6.2 per cent and days on market down from 70 days to 62 days.

As a result, the number of houses and units changing hands has significantly increased, and is up 9.7 per cent on a year ago and 1.5 per cent on the five year average.

This has resulted in the median sales price for both houses and units are also gaining ground.

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It is a similar story in Cairns, where vendor discounting has dropped 0.7 per cent to 4.3 per cent for houses and 0.6 per cent to 4.7 per cent for units.

However, the time on market for units has increased from 59 days to 72 days, likely the result of the brakes being applied to the tourism sector due to COVID-19. Time of market for houses remains unchanged at 58 days, according to CoreLogic.

The rate of vendor discounting and the length of time a property stays on the market has also decreased in the resource rich region of Mackay-Isaac-Whitsunday, which has seen a resurgence in the mining sector.

The South Townsville miners cottage has been beautifully renovated.

CoreLogic head of research Tim Lawless said that regional housing values, broadly speaking, had so far held up better during the pandemic than their capital city counterparts.

Tim Lawless

He said that dwelling values across the combined regional areas of Australia had slipped by just 0.1 per cent between March and the end of July, while capital city home values were down 2 per cent over the same period.

“While the region by region data shows diversity, the relatively steady conditions across the regional markets of Australia can probably be attributed to factors such as less impact on housing demand from stalling overseas migration,” he said.

“Also there likely remains some momentum in the trend towards rising demand for lifestyle properties that was prevalent prior to COVID-19.”

Mr Lawless said that regional areas offered up a variety of advantages and risks compared with their capital city counterparts.

“On the positive side, housing prices tend to be lower, providing a more affordable entry point to the market, population densities are generally lower which is something that might be even more appealing as we move through this pandemic, and in many examples, regional areas will offer some lifestyle advantages, either via the locations proximity to the coastline or wide open spaces,” he said.

“On the downside, regional economic conditions can be more volatile, especially those areas that are heavily dependent on a single industry for economic prosperity, and some areas may not show the same level of amenity and access to essential services as a capital city or major centre.”

This executive home in Annandale is listed for $845,000-negotiable after a price reduction.

In Townsville, vacant lots are hot property, with new home and first home buyers making the most of generous government incentive, and some established houses are selling in hours, in some cases sight unseen by interstate buyers desperate to flee the big smoke.

And considering the cost of a similar house in Sydney or Melbourne, its a bargain.

Many residents have also returned home to Townsville, with others shifting to town before borders closed, driving down the rental vacancy to a record low of 1.7 per cent.

That’s down from 2.9 per cent in March, and the record high for the city of 7.1 per cent in September 2016, according to the latest REIQ Vacancy Rate Report.

REIQ CEO Antonia Mercorella said regional Queensland vacancy rates were the tightest since the GFC.

REIQ CEO Antonia Mercorella. Picture: Supplied

Meanwhile, the Herron Todd White Month in Review Report for August has both the Townsville house and unit markets at the “start of recovery”.

The REA Markets Trends report for August shows that the biggest vendor discounts for houses in Townsville are currently being offered in Heatley, Condon and Mundingburra.

A renovated miners cottage in South Townsville and an executive home in Annandale are just two of the Townsville properties that have seen price reductions.

***

Top 10 suburbs with the greatest average vendor discounting

Heatley -10.5%

Condon -9.2%

Mundingburra -8.7%

Aitkenvale -8.4%

Rasmussen -8.1%

Kelso -7.9%

Deeragun -7.8%

Currajong -6.4%

Cranbrook -5.9%

Douglas -5.3%

(Source: REA Market Trends Report – August)

The post Where to bag a bargain before vendor discounts dry up appeared first on realestate.com.au.

With 11 per cent of mortgages in loan deferrals, concern is rising about how struggling homeowners will cope.

The coronavirus pandemic has had a dramatic effect on homeowners, with more Aussies now acutely aware of financial fallout – but there’s a ticking time bomb in the wings for some.

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The latest Financial Consciousness Index by Comparethemarket.com.au and Deloitte Access Economics found a silver lining off COVID-19, saying more people had become financially aware as they worked to reduce the impact of the pandemic’s economic downturn.

It found 8.9 million Aussies save 10 per cent or more of their income each pay cycle, up by 1.6 million people compared to last year, with the proportion highest in ACT (52 per cent), with Queenslanders least able to do so ( (41 per cent).

Changing mortgage repayment options to interest only is one of the strategies some homeowners have employed to rebuild savings for a period during COVID-19.

But Comparethemarket general manager digital banking, David Ruddiman, said while the health crisis had forced many people to be more conservative in their spending because of job security fears and reduced incomes, the lagging effect on the economy was the unknown right now.

“Unfortunately we do have a situation where 11 per cent of mortgages are in loan deferrals,” he said, with the top 20 authorised lending institutions seeing 11 per cent of their $195 billion in mortgage related debt in deferrals by mid-year.

“Initially when relief was granted to banks to put people on repayment pauses in late March, they gave them until September and then they have to commence paying. But deferment means that interest keeps accruing, and many australians whose loans are in deferment will find their loans will be bigger than when they went into repayment pause.”

Mr Ruddiman said some options for people looking to adjust finances included changing mortgage repayment options to interest only to rebuild savings for a period, downsize to reduce the size of home loans and set a budget by looking at household expenditure and ways to save money.

”If we want to see our economy bounce and we don’t want house prices to plummet, we need to be more aware of financial circumstances. Little things can have a big impact on people that are really struggling. My message on big ticket items like homes is if your home loan doesn’t start with a 2 you’re failing in terms of taking action. You’ve got to get out there and take action.”

Queenslanders were bang on the national average for overall financial consciousness, scoring 51/100 for the FCI test, up from 48 last year.

Queenslanders scored 51/100 which was also the national average financial consciousness score.

There was some good news at the lower end of the spectrum too, with a 10 percentage point reduction in the number of Queenslanders who were failing the test, sitting at 33 per cent this year compared to a massive 43 per cent last year.

New South Wales, Victoria, and South Australia also aligned with the national average, according to the third annual study which looks at financial sophistication, willingness, capability and wellness.

“Research around this report indicates people are certainly thinking about finances more and it’s also fair to say because we’ve had these lockdowns, the vast majority of us who are full-time employed have been able to save more.

He warned that Australia was yet to feel the true impact of the pandemic on the economy, given government assistance was helping cushion the blows right now.

“It’s not the great equaliser that everyone thought it was going to be. It certainly has caused a divergence of people, with some affected more than others, for example, white collar workers coming out better compared to blue collar workers.”

The impact on industries like hospitality and tourism had also increased the gender gap, with females affected more.

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The post COVID-19 has changed homeowners: Survey appeared first on realestate.com.au.

Findex Geelong is the new top floor tenant at 235 Ryrie St, Geelong.

A leading advisory firm has a new Geelong home after starting a 10-year lease in Ryrie Street.

Findex Geelong has occupied the top floor at 235 Ryrie Street, Geelong, after completing fit-out of the 1015sq m space, which is understood to be valued at mid $300 per square metre.

The 10-year lease, brokered by MP Burke Commercial, includes 15 on-site car spaces at the property.

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The tenancy features a new fit-out, open-plan collaborative and client engagement areas and meeting rooms, and has extensive views across Geelong’s CBD, Corio Bay and the You Yangs.

Findex is a leading integrated advisory firm with private, business and government clients across a 110 office network.

Executive managing partner Mark Whelan said: “Findex is proud to have partnered with Costa Asset Management and MP Burke Commercial to deliver a workplace experience for our people that we are proud of and that reaffirms our commitment to growth in the Geelong market.”

The building owner, Costa Asset Management acquired the property (which includes the neighbouring building anchored by Bendigo Bank) in mid-2018 for $9.5m, settling in June, 2019.

Mr Burke said the owners had looked to capitalise on Geelong’s strong growth by taking a proactive approach to attract new tenants, retain existing tenants and futureproof the asset.

Findex Geelong is the new top floor tenant at 235 Ryrie St, Geelong.

“This has been achieved through an extensive capital works program to enhance the building’s

presentation, improved services and an extensive upgrade of the building’s facade,” Mr Burke said.

The building opened in the 1980s for the then-Capital Building Society.

Victorian Regional Channels Authority had been the previous tenant, before relocating to the Federal Mills precinct in North Geelong.

MP Burke Commercial also negotiated a new six-year lease extension with ground floor tenant Clinical Laboratories.

A fully fitted 290sq m ground floor suite is the final area available for lease.

Mr Burke said the Geelong leasing market remains strong with several new office developments underway and strong support from local businesses, state and federal governments.

As the COVID-19 pandemic takes hold in central Melbourne, Geelong stands out as an opportunity for Victorian and national businesses, government and enterprise to diversify their operations, reduce their costs and secure quality staff by establishing their business in one of Australia’s fastest growing and exciting regions,” he said.

The post Findex: Accountants find new Geelong digs in 10-year Ryrie St commercial lease appeared first on realestate.com.au.