Australian housing: Prices are booming, and homeowners have never been happier
A recent survey has proven that Australia’s vendors are happier than they were a year ago. Picture: Supplied
House are prices soaring as FOMO pushes buyers to pay top dollar for their post pandemic dream home – and sellers are collectively rubbing their hands together.
Unsurprisingly, vendors are thrilled and a recent survey by RateMyAgent has proven just that. Vendor sale price happiness was up 4 per cent over the last 12 months, According to national research, with preliminary data for the first quarter of 2021 showing seller satisfaction is tracking at 56 per cent – the highest result ever reported by the review website.
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Home vendors have never been happier according to a new survey. Monty, Jyoti Agrawal and their daughter Aayushi pictured outside their Rockbank house. Picture: Mark Stewart
The RateMyAgent’s quarterly Price Expectation Report asked more than 51,500 successful vendors if their sale price was above, below or in line with expectations and revealed that seller satisfaction had risen 10 per cent since the second quarter of 2020.
Considering the significant number of city slickers escaping to the country last year, regional areas reported slightly higher levels of sale price satisfaction.
While metro sellers clocked a 50 per cent rate of satisfaction, 52 per cent of regional sellers were content in the fourth quarter of 2020.
The Tweed-Richmond region came in as the thirst happiest area. This Tweed Heads home recently sold for $1.4 million. Picture: Supplied
The Mallee in regional Victoria, which is home to both Mildura and Swan Hill, took out the title of Australia’s happiest region (recording a 70 per cent rate of happiness) followed by Hobart (67 per cent), Richmond-Tweed (66 per cent), Canberra (64 per cent) and The Riverina in NSW (62 per cent).
The Mallee, which is home to the region city of Mildura, is the happiest place for sellers right now. This Mildura home just sold for $440,000. Picture: Supplied
Mark Thornton, from One Agency Mildura, said the regional city along the Murray River was home to some very hot property right now.
“For the first time in a long time, Mildura is starting to see some really solid growth – it’s been a long time coming. We’re getting really great results and prices that we’ve never seen before so I’m guessing that’s translating into happiness,” he said.
According to realestate.com.au data, Mildura has a median house price of $340,000, up from $315,000 12 months ago.
The Riverina in NSW, which scored a 62 per cent happiness rating, has been a popular location for city slickers escaping Sydney and Melbourne. This home in Albury was just listed for $695,000. Picture: Supplied
“I’ve been in real estate for 13 years and I’ve certainly never seen the market as buoyant as it is. We’re getting a lot of buyers from Melbourne and surrounding areas, as well as other regions, looking to relocate because COVID has changed a lot of people’s plans,” Mr Thornton said, adding Mildura was also sought after by investors.
“We’ve always had really good returns, but now we’re also showing such good growth they’re getting the best of both worlds,” he said.
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Mark Armstrong, co-founder and executive director at RateMyAgent, anticipated the seller’s market was likely to continue throughout the coming months.
This family home in the popular Hobart suburbs of Sandy Bay just fetched $1 million. Picture: Supplied
“Our latest Price Expectation Report shows just how remarkably the property market has recovered since the beginning of the pandemic. The end of 2020 saw buyer confidence return – and we anticipate this will carry into the first half of 2021. We’ve got an incredible combination of strong buyer demand, a significant increase in supply and historically low interest rates,” he said.
“Looking ahead, we’re forecasting a 10 to 20 per cent increase in the number of properties entering the market for sale in 2021 – particularly in the second half of the year. Our advice to Australians who are thinking of selling, is to sell now,” he added.
However, Mr Amstrong warned that the smooth sailing for sellers is unlikely to last forever.
“The spring market will see a significant increase in the number of properties on the market and this will soften vendor happiness and prices. For buyers, the second half of the year will see some fantastic opportunities,” he said.
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Top 10 Happiest Areas in Australia:
1. The Mallee (VIC) – 70%
2. Hobart (TAS) – 67%
3. Richmond-Tweed (QLD) – 66%
4. Canberra Region (ACT) – 64%
5. Canberra (ACT) – 64%
6. The Riverina (NSW) – 62%
7. Metropolitan Adelaide (SA) – 61%
8. Outer East Melbourne (VIC) – 59%
9. Central Highlands and Goldfields (VIC) – 58%
10. Outer North Melbourne (VIC) – 58%
Canberra is full of happy buyers, this recent listing in Ainslie, where the median house price is $1.245 million, is due to go under the hammer on March 11. Picture: Supplied
While a 12-month hike in happiness is being felt nationwide, the most significant levels of venom joy are being felt in the ACT market (66 per cent), which overtook Tasmania (60 per cent) as the home of Australia’s happiest sellers.
Next in line was South Australia (57 per cent) and Victoria (54 per cent).
Sitting on the bottom rungs of the happiness ladder were NSW (51 per cent), Queensland (48 per cent) and Western Australia (43 per cent).
On the flip side, the survey showed the regions considered to be home to the unhappiest sellers were; North Queensland (31 per cent), South West WA (36 per cent), Wide Bay-Burnett (36 per cent), Far North Queensland (36 per cent) and Central SA (37 per cent).