St Ives residential market continues to grow in popularity: Savills

Popularity for residential properties in St Ives has increased, according to Savills latest report.

“The predominantly residential suburbs of St Ives and St Ives Chase are situated on the Upper North Shore of Sydney, approximately 18km from the Sydney CBD.

“St Ives has recently experienced an increase in popularity and is now considered a suburb of choice, whereas it was once viewed as a more affordable alternative to the neighbouring suburbs of Pymble and Gordon.

“Amongst other attributes, shopping centre and parks, as well as access to city and bus services mean residential property in the St Ives area is in high demand.

“Given the suburb developed later than neighbouring suburbs, the primary architecture style is modern homes on larger than average blocks of land as opposed to period homes.

“These large homes are attractive to growing families, particularly given the lack of preservation restrictions, which are found in neighbouring, older suburbs.

“As well as the housing stock, in the past ten years there has been a large growth in the development of apartment blocks, particularly around the shopping centre.

“This is part of the government mandate for more medium density housing throughout Sydney,” the report stated.

Savills says that property prices in St Ives and St Ives Chase has significantly increased in the past decade.

“Property values in St Ives and St Ives Chase have experienced significant growth over the past decade with house prices increasing by 95 percent and 110 percent respectively, in line with the Sydney average.

“Over the past year, price growth has remained in double digits while a slowdown was recorded across other parts of Sydney, reflecting a lack of supply in the area.

“Apartment prices in St Ives recorded a more subdued rise over the longer term, increasing by 45 percent over the past ten years.

“However, much like houses, growth over the past year has outperformed the Sydney average with a rise of 9 percent.

“The average sale price for a house in St Ives and St Ives Chase in December 2016, was $1,905,000 and $1,756,000 respectively.

“This is significantly higher than the Greater Sydney average of just over $1,000,000 but offers a discount compared to the neighbouring suburbs of Gordon and Pymble where the medium house price is $2,445,000 and $2,302,000 respectively.

“However, this gap in prices is beginning to narrow as the popularity of St Ives increases,” the report advised.

The current median price of houses in St Ives and St Ives Chase in 2017 according to CoreLogic is $1,985,000 and $1,840,000 respectively.

A five bedroom house at 10 Kitchener Street, St Ives (above) has been listed with a price guide of $1.95 million.

Similarly a five bedroom house at 39 Douglas Street, St Ives (below) has been listed for $1.895 million.

The median rent in St Ives is higher than Sydney averages according to Savills.

“While the private rented sector in St Ives is much smaller than other areas across Sydney, it is growing.

“At $1,200 per week for a house and $710 per week for a unit, the median rent in St Ives is higher than the Sydney averages of $650 and $560 per week.

“However, rental values vary significantly depending on property type and size,” the report commented.

Downsizers play a key part in St Ives’ housing market Savills says.

“Downsizers play a key part in the housing market in St Ives as the majority have paid off the mortgage on their larger, family homes, giving them significant buying power on their next, smaller property.

“Across the suburb, just over a quarter of the population are aged over 60 compared to 18 percent across Greater Sydney.

“International buyers are an important source of demand for the housing market across Sydney as both owner occupiers and investors.

“In St Ives, there has traditionally been a large South African population.

“This is still the case with 12 percent of the population born there compared to just 0.8 percent across Greater Sydney.

“There is also a growing Asian population in the area.

“The most recent census data from 2011 recorded 9 percent of residents describing their ancestry as Chinese, slightly over the Sydney average.

“This is likely to have increased over the past six years, as Chinese buyers look further afield.

“Accessibility to employment locations is high priority for many house hunters.

“Residents in St Ives work in a number of locations, reflecting the suburb’s connectivity to both the centre of Sydney and other key employment locations.

“The largest employment industry for people living in St Ives is the Professional, Scientific and Tech sector accounting for 18 percent of employees compared to an average of 10 percent across Sydney.

“This industry is the fastest growing in Sydney meaning St Ives is well placed to draw on the newly created wealth in these industries,” Sophie Chick, Head of Savills Residential Research stated.

Savills says that low interest rates, population growth and investments are some of the factors that will determine the outlook for St Ives.

“It is important to assess the outlook for the St Ives area in the context of the Sydney market.

“Factors such as low interest rates, population growth and infrastructure investment point to a positive economic outlook for NSW over the next five years.

“These factors are expected to continue to support demand for housing, particularly in Sydney.

“However, we do expect the rate of house price growth to slow, given the affordability pressures and the regulatory measures implemented to slow the amount of bank lending to investors.

“The St Ives area continues to offer good value in comparison to neighbouring suburbs as well as having high quality housing stock, an abundance of open space and good schools.

“We expect these factors to continue to appeal to buyers, particularly families,” the report commented.