WHILE demand in some areas of the real estate market has decreased, properties in other sectors are still much sought after, Andrew Newton, branch manager of Alex Scott and Staff in Leongatha explained.
“Median priced homes in most of the regional towns are still going really strong,” he said.
Although Leongatha’s median price is in the low $500,000 bracket, residential properties anywhere between $400,000 and $900,000 are still selling well.
However, Andrew has seen a decline in demand at the top end of the market for properties valued at over $1 million.
He considers that is attributable to a decline in Covid-driven buying urgency.
“The fear of missing out on houses has backed off a little bit, so it’s become more of a level playing field between sellers and buyers,” Andrew said.
There is still strong demand for good homes in Leongatha, with Andrew citing the example of a house that’s less than 10 years old on a good-sized block with a shed, something that is scarce.
Demand for house blocks remains strong, but they are in short supply.
“The residential market for Leongatha is strong, as is that for towns such as Meeniyan, Dumbalk and Foster,” Andrew said.
While demand for rural lifestyle properties ranging from a couple of acres in size to about 20 acres has declined, other sections of the rural property market are performing admirably when available.
“Farmlets, or what we call turnout blocks are still really popular, and there’s hardly any supply,” Andrew said.
Turnout blocks can range from 50 acres through to around 200 acres and are separate to the main farm.
“If you’re a dairy farmer you’ve got your farm where you milk your cows and you might have a separate block where you run your heifers or your dry cows,” Andrew said.
The current positive state of the dairy farming sector, driven by improved milk prices, is prompting many farmers to prioritise buying turnout blocks in preference to continuing to lease them.
Such blocks are also sought after by beef farmers who may populate them with steers or young heifers.
“Probably the area of the rural market that is the strongest at the moment is turnout blocks with no homes on them,” Andrew said.
While there would also be interest in dairy farms in the vicinity of 300-500 acres, there is currently little availability of such properties, he observed.
Andrew reflected on the Covid-driven demand for country properties.
“It’s been a great couple of years from a real estate point of view,” he said, adding that those who own real estate in a regional area have seen their asset value rise.
Andrew said it’s a difficult period for those striving to break into the housing market for the first time.
“We feel for those people and that’s where we’re trying to encourage new land subdivisions so there’s a good supply of suitable properties and it gives people the opportunity to get into the market,” he said.
He also commented on the lack of available rental premises, with many landlords selling residential tenancy properties.
Overall, Andrew is confident the future is bright for the real estate industry in South Gippsland, believing farming in the region remains strong, but saying it is a field that will always be subject to ups and downs and it is a matter of meeting challenges as they arise.