Housing market hot

While most agents agree the local market is holding up well, some say they’re experiencing record sales.

Scott Lethbridge from Garth Lisle Real Estate in San Remo described the market as very motivated and said house and land sales were strong.

“Recently a vacant block in Cape Woolamai sold within a week. I put the board up and had 12 queries before it even went online,” he said.
A house in an adjacent street sold just as quickly.

“We had a house in Seesburg Avenue that sold within a week. There was immediate interest from Melbourne and local buyers,” he said.
Another house on The Esplanade at Cape Woolamai generated an “incredible amount of interest” and received five times as many expressions of interest as normal.

The trend was the same in San Remo, Scott said, contributing to the company’s highest monthly sales tally in the past ten years.
“We released 10 blocks at the Penniwells estate and sold nine within a week.

“The tenth block is now under contract,” he said.

“We’ve had a record number of sales in the last four weeks.”

Pandemic effect

Scott believes the pandemic is having an impact on buying patterns.
“There are a lot of buyers wanting to get out of Melbourne and move to the coast, and that in turn is putting pressure on local buyers,” he explained.

Being forced to work from home has opened people’s eyes to the opportunity for working remotely as well.
“Covid has made people see the opportunities and motivated them to get moving.

“Why wouldn’t you want to live here? It’s close to the beach, you can work from home. It’s affordable.”
He’s even sold three properties without the purchasers physically visiting the house.

Despite the economic downturn, Scott said none of the properties he has listed are from “distressed vendors” – people selling because of financial pressure due to Covid.

And the value of local houses remains strong.
“Vendors are getting their asking price. It’s a vendors market,” he said.

Locals left out?

Traditionally July and August are slow months for house sales, with September “not much better”, said Scott.
“Normally summer through to Easter is our peak selling period, but this year has definitely been out of the ordinary.”
He said the increased interest has motivated local homebuyers.

“It’s not just Melbourne buyers. It’s the locals not wanting to miss the market,” he said.

“Some people are worried what will happen when lockdown ends and the Melbourne buyers come swarming down.”
At the moment, Scott said two thirds of his sales are for investment or holiday homes.

One explanation is while some people in Melbourne might have money to buy, they can’t afford to buy in Melbourne, so they’re looking for a holiday property to get into the market.

The healthy state of the local rental market is also motivating investors.

Scott said his challenge now is demand is outstripping the number of properties on the books.
“We need more houses, so if you’re thinking of selling, give me a call.”

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