News

By Matthew Hyder, CEO Legacy Property

The property industry never ceases to amaze me. Just when you think you’ve seen it all, it throws up something unexpected. Take COVID. Logic would suggest that a global pandemic would send property buyers running for the hills, but demand for our house and land projects in Western Sydney is on the rise with first home buyers leading the charge.
Is it the HomeBuilder scheme boosting their enthusiasm? Perhaps its record low interest rates that have them excited? Or is there a deeper yearning for the safety of the suburbs? In this article, I explore what’s happening in Sydney’s west.

by Matthew Hyder, CEO

Creeping up on Sydney is a housing supply issue that nobody is talking about it. It hasn’t yet made the headlines, yet. And it’s not easy to spot. But when it hits the Sydney market from around 2021, it will place immense upward pressure on property prices. Any relief in housing affordability gained in recent years will quickly be eroded and the scenario for home buyers may be even worse than before.
The problem lies inside our government agencies – read on to find out more.

By Matthew Hyder, CEO Legacy Property
Consumer sentiment is a powerful thing in the property world. And right now we’re seeing signs that buyer confidence is returning. A late Winter spike in auction clearance rates in Sydney and Melbourne suggests buyers are coming back in numbers even before the Spring rush begins in earnest.
So does this mean the market has definitely bottomed out? Or are the media overdoing it on reports of a recovery, just as they have with their gloomy slump story of the past two years?
In my view, it’s a time to be optimistic. There are three critical factors driving an improvement in the market.

There is a lot of advice being dished out to first home buyers at the moment. Buy now. Don’t buy now. Jump on cheaper prices. What troubles me is that the advice assumes all first home buyers are coming into the market with the same set of circumstances.
Our experience tells us that they are anything but homogenous. Using our Caddens Hill development as a reference point, in this article I explore three major trends we’re seeing amongst different types of first home buyers.

The Sydney housing market is set to shift further in favour of buyers in 2019 as property prices continue to ease, providing significant opportunities for savvy investors and first home buyers.
After a decade of sustained and unprecedented growth, Sydney real estate prices retreated over the past 12 months as tighter lending conditions, the banking royal commission, sluggish wage growth and less demand from investors and foreigners dented the market.

In 2018, Sydney remained Australia’s highest-priced capital city for property, staying well ahead of Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth. This came despite cooling market conditions with prices dipping to a median $1,101,532 in September, representing a 6.5 per cent annual fall.

Seasons can play a significant role when it comes to house prices and summer is no exception.
Traditionally, the sunny months of summer have been considered an ideal time for buyers to snag a bargain, with house hunters facing less competition than in spring, autumn and winter.
This long-held wisdom is now backed up by research, with Monash University1 showing that house prices in Sydney – unlike many other Australian capital cities – tend to spike in the cooler months.
The research, which examined seasonality in property prices across Australia, found that in Sydney July tended to be the most expensive month to buy a house, while June was priciest for units.

Legacy Property is excited to announce that it has entered into a development agreement with the Illawarra Coke Company (ICC) for its Corrimal Coke Works site located in Wollongong, in the Illawarra region just south of Sydney.

In the high-speed internet era, it is increasingly tempting for vendors to sell their properties agent-free in order to save thousands of dollars in fees and commissions.
That’s because rapid advances in technology, such as the advent of social media platforms, have made it much easier for home owners to sell without the need to use a real estate agent.

In today’s competitive real estate market, saving for a first home means being money smart. You need to know how to balance the needs of daily life with your future goals and aspirations.
Whilst you can start saving for a home at any stage of life, it certainly helps if you start early. Helping your kids develop good financial habits is an essential life lesson that will make it easier for them to make big decisions later in life, like buying a home.

Legacy Property are to be highly commended on a very targeted and well thought out marketing campaign for their Caddens Hill Project.
From the outset of the campaign the marketing team understood their brief, identified their target market and were able to adapt their campaign to the market trends and demands.

It’s little surprise that Sydneysiders have long considered spring a great time to sell property. The weather impacts home sales in all sorts of ways and spring is a time of year when the sun is shining, the grass is green and the cold winter months have been left behind.
In 2017, spring sales were more muted than usual due to a range of factors including regulatory changes, a conservative consumer outlook and less demand for houses.

With spring around the corner more properties are set to hit the Sydney market, resulting in opportunities for both sellers and buyers over coming months.
For sellers, it’s no secret that spring is traditionally the best time to list houses for sale or auction, but this year vendors will likely have to work harder given cooler market conditions.

Spring is the most competitive time of year when it comes to buying property, meaning house hunters need to do everything they can to get value for money.
One strategy an increasing number of Australians are employing to get an edge when it comes to purchasing property is to use a buyer’s agent or advocate.

With an increase in property supply hitting the Sydney market in 2018, tenants now have more choice when it comes to choosing rental properties that suit their needs and budget.
While that’s good news for renters, additional housing stock can throw up extra challenges for landlords when it comes to finding a tenant.
As competition for tenants heats up across the city, here are some tips to get your property leased.

Whether it’s a dog, a cat or something more exotic, millions of Australians are proud pet owners.
But despite the nation’s love affair with pets, it’s common for them to be banned from rental accommodation across the country in strata by-laws and tenancy agreements.
This can leave tenants in awkward situations, caught between a need to secure rental accommodation and loyalty to their faithful friends.
There are also issues for landlords, some of whom are currently in the firing line of proposed legal changes that would make it harder for them to refuse requests by tenants to have pets.

The introduction of Airbnb has been a boon for tourists, but the situation is more complicated for landlords. Whilst for some landlords it has provided an alternative method for letting their property, for others who don’t want their tenants subletting via Airbnb it presents new challenges.

Article from ‘Hills Shire Times’ – Katrina Creer – 11 May 2018

A BOUTIQUE estate in Sydney’s growing northwest, set to be released onto the market this month, has already attracted more than 500 registrations of interest.

The 12ha site located on Terry Rd, Box Hill will comprise of 190-lots, most of which will offer a district outlook.

Legacy Property has taken on the project described as `an intimate masterplanned community’ and rebranded it as Box Hill Heights. The original developers of the estate, which had been called Halcyon Rise, were placed into liquidation.

Residential property developer, Legacy Property today announced the acquisition of a 12 Ha residential development site at Box Hill in the rapidly growing North West Priority Growth Corridor.

Legacy Property has taken over the residential development site, previously known as Halcyon Rise and will re-brand the site as Box Hill Heights.

The new masterplanned community, located on Terry Road, Box Hill includes 190 residential lots.

Despite property prices easing in real estate hotspots such as Sydney and Melbourne, it remains a challenging environment for home loan borrowers in 2018.

Each year mortgage brokers help thousands of Aussies find home loans that suit their particular needs and financial requirements.
With more than 4000 mortgages on the market, using a broker can be a great way to save serious money on your home loan.
That’s because brokers have regular contact with a wide variety of lenders, meaning you are effectively getting access to many lenders and their loan options.
But as with any important financial decision, it’s important to use a broker who has the requisite skills and experience to give you the best possible outcome.

For many first home buyers, mortgage lenders insurance can be a necessary step to make their property dream a reality.
However, recent research shows that the term “mortgage lenders insurance” is one of the most commonly misunderstood phrases used in the property market.

With Sydney retaining the title as Australia’s most expensive property market, investors and house hunters city-wide are searching for affordable real estate.
Box Hill, located just 45 kilometers north west of Sydney’s CBD, could be the answer.
Situated within The Hills Shire Council, Box Hill was once semi-rural. But that’s all changed as the area becomes increasingly popular with families, investors and first home buyers.
Box Hill is currently experiencing a boom, with another 30,000 residents forecasted to be living in the precinct by 2036.

When it comes to picking the best time to sell your property, there are no hard and fast rules. However, there are pros and cons to each of the major selling seasons you need to consider.
With that in mind, here are some tips for vendors who are trying to figure out the best time of year to list their property on the market.

So you’ve decided to sell your property. Now comes one of the biggest choices you’ll need to make – auction or private treaty.
Both selling methods have their pros and cons, but Benjamin Martin of Belle Property Balmain says making the right call depends on your particular circumstances.

Sydney’s housing market has experienced another standout year in 2017 with property prices, auction clearance rates and housing lending remaining robust.
“Home prices are growing at a slower pace in many markets, but back to more sustainable levels. Home affordability will start to improve again in major cities.”

The Sydney property market is set to shift in favour of buyers in 2018 as house price growth adopts a more moderate pace across the city following a sustained period of double-digit rises.

That’s the view of several industry experts who predict Sydney’s record-breaking house price growth will ease over the next 12 months, improving opportunities for house hunters.

SQM Research, for instance, said it was likely that the rate of property price increases in Sydney would slow early in 2018, before recovering later in the year as lending to investors increased.

“Our Sydney forecast for this year of price growth of 11 per cent to 16 per cent will not be reached and a more moderate 6 per cent to 8 per cent increase in prices can be anticipated,” SQM Research director Louis Christopher said recently.

Christmas is usually the time of year when Australians like to take a break from work and spend well-earned time off with family and friends.

But it can also be a great period for buying property, if you go about it the right way.

For house-hunters keen to make the most of the festive season, here are some tips to get the best out of what is often considered the property market’s low season.

The WestConnex motorway is the largest infrastructure project of its kind in Sydney since the construction of the iconic Sydney Harbour Bridge in the 1930s.
The project, often described as the “missing link” in Sydney’s road network, commenced in March 2015 and is due for completion in 2023.

Simply put, compulsory acquisition is when an authority, usually a state government or the Commonwealth, acquires privately owned land or property.
The reason the Commonwealth can forcibly take your property is that it has the legal right under Section 51(xxxi) of the Constitution of Australia, while the states are similarly empowered under relevant state legislation.

Spring has always been considered a good time to sell a property. Everything is in bloom and looks brighter. But spring can also attract a flood of properties onto the market, making it harder to catch a buyer’s eye.

The Aussie dream of owning a big home with a picket fence on a quarter-acre block is fast becoming out of reach for most, so smaller apartment living is on the rise. Are you embracing the ‘tiny house movement’?

Australia certainly faces a number of speed bumps as the economy continues its ongoing transition to non-mining activities. In the face of falling commodity prices and mining investment, the focus is shifting towards housing construction and the services sectors. So what does this mean for property prices?