Investor activity in NSW's Southern Highlands and Tablelands up: HTW
The residential property market in NSW's Southern Highlands has been increasing in both volume and price activity since late 2014, say valuation firm Herron Todd White in their April 2016 property clock.
HTW says it saw a noticeable increase in activity by investors in 2015. The Highlands property market is heavily influenced by the Sydney property market, with many buyers relocating from Sydney to the region. Now that Sydney has slowed and softened, the Highlands is also anticipated to slow.
The fringe suburbs in the Southern Highlands are essentially the villages removed from the three major towns of Bowral, Mittagong and Moss Vale and include villages such as Robertson, Bundanoon, Colo Vale and Hill Top. Most of these fringe suburbs have local shops, parks and schools, but are lacking in the larger supermarkets that the three main Highlands towns feature. Residents of the fringe suburbs will drive to the larger towns for these services (usually a 10 to 20 minute drive). When compared to the main centres, the fringe suburbs offer better value for money. The market in the fringe suburbs has been strong. Prices have increased circa 10% to 15% over the past year and a half, which is in line with the growth of the majority of our regional market.
HTW noted have seen some new residential subdivisions emerge in Bundanoon and Colo Vale. Vacant land sales have been snapped up.
"Rent levels in the smaller villages have also increased.
"Our prediction for the medium to long term is for a steady to increasing trend overall, in line with the overall market movements for the region."
The Southern Tablelands region is steady. The Sydney investor activity evident over the past 18 months is reducing. We anticipate Goulburn to plateau or even soften slightly this year. There are similar trends evident in the Tablelands, with good land sales and new home construction activity in the new and modern residential estates on the fringe of Goulburn, including the Belmore, Merino Country and Mistful Park estates.
Goulburn can be viewed as a fringe suburb of Canberra, the report noted. Being more affordable, some Goulburn residents commute to Canberra. Goulburn also offers affordable investment properties for the Sydney investor. The smaller villages and townships of the Tablelands could also be viewed as fringe suburbs of the larger towns, Goulburn and Canberra. Villages like Crookwell are steady. The outlook is a steady to slightly increasing trend.
Property Observer went looking for some recent sales in the fringes Bundanoon and Goulburn.
The median price for houses in Bundanoon is $536,500, according to CoreLogic RP Data. One recent sale around the median price was a three-bedroom house at 3 Ellsmore Road Bundanoon NSW 2578, which fetched $520,000, according to www.realestate.com.au.
In Goulburn, the median house price was $335,000 while the unit price was $224,000, according to CoreLogic RP Data. A recent sold example was a two-bedroom apartment at 1/87-91 Victoria Street Goulburn NSW 2580 for $210,000.
