Some Illawarra suburbs have experienced a noticeable boost in properties listed for sale, despite analysis suggesting the region’s market is cooling overall.
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CoreLogic’s head of research Cameron Kusher said with dwelling values now falling, led by a rapid slowdown in the Sydney and Melbourne housing markets, these two cities have also experienced a lift in listings.
CoreLogic has looked at the suburbs with the greatest annual change in listings, based on properties advertised for sale over the 12 months to May 2017 and 12 months to May 2018.
They only included suburbs with at least 50 listings in each period.
Of suburbs in NSW with the greatest change in the number of properties listed for sale, Bulli ranked second with a 44.7 per cent increase to 110 listings.
Mr Kusher said suburbs such as Cordeaux Heights, Barrack Heights, Thirroul and Austinmer had also experienced heightened levels of listings during this time.
Mr Kusher said the Illawarra market had enjoyed a “really strong run as values increased in Sydney”, but now the market was slowing, albeit not as drastically as Sydney.
“Things are certainly cooling and I think the prospects over the next couple of years are not particularly strong for the Wollongong market,” he said. “Bulli’s an interesting one, because Sydney is grabbing the headlines for values falling, but even the rate of growth in the Wollongong region, there’s been a massive slowdown over the past 12 months.”
Mr Kusher said values across the region are now down from their peak, so as the market slowed, properties have taken longer to sell.
“People are still thinking that the market’s quite strong, so they’re bringing more stock to the market,” he said. “I think that’s why you see a place like Bulli on this list… It’s early stages, not as far into a slowdown as Sydney is, but certainly things have slowed a lot.
“It’s not quite as easy to shift stock as it was six to 12 months ago. It happens all the time when the market turns; people still think it’s strong, still bring their property to market and still think they can get prices that they could at the peak.
“It takes a while for them to actually realise that the market has turned.”
Agent Troy McNeice, director of Molenaar + McNeice, who currently has several listings in Bulli, said open house numbers overall had dropped compared to the same time last year, but the area had remained “pretty strong, particularly in the beachside market”.
“We’ve been seeing a lot of people still relocating out of Sydney, looking for the lifestyle and value for money that we offer down here in comparison,” he said.
He felt the trickle-down effect of the cooling Sydney market hadn’t registered as much in the Illawarra.
“We have seen in some markets a slight decrease, it’s very minimal. However, in lifestyle-oriented markets where the finance isn’t as much of a consideration we’re still seeing a lot of movement there.
“It can be a little sporadic; some properties we’re seeing strong interest and still achieving really good results, and then other properties are a little challenging.”
Brendan Crabb
I'm a member of ACM's national property team, covering the Illawarra and South Coast. Based in Albion Park, NSW, I write about exciting, interesting or just downright quirky properties that have been listed for sale, major sales, market trends, auctions and more. One of my favourite aspects of being a journalist is I believe everyone has a story to tell. What's yours?
I'm a member of ACM's national property team, covering the Illawarra and South Coast. Based in Albion Park, NSW, I write about exciting, interesting or just downright quirky properties that have been listed for sale, major sales, market trends, auctions and more. One of my favourite aspects of being a journalist is I believe everyone has a story to tell. What's yours?
