Housing Supply Falling Along The East Coast

A dire undersupply of new housing lots is on the horizon due to construction delays and is expected to dire up the price of house-and-land packages on the Australian east coast this year following a surge in prices in 2021.

Housing analyst Colin Keane, a director at Research4 expects months of delay.

“It has no supply and customers are still lining up,” said Mr Keane.

Surprisingly, Sydney didn’t take top prize for the most lot sales but did take the ribbon when it came to price growth, up 34% in 2021 from $534,000 from $430,000 for house-and-land packages.

According to Mr Keane, a lack of active supply drove a 50% drop in sales volumes in the latter half of 2021 following record sales volumes in the first half of the year.

“The lack of supply resulted in an estimated nine months of demand being left on the table.

’The number of active [housing] estates dropped from 150 to 75 in one quarter, with a further 21 expected to end in early 2022. [This is] a massive impact on capacity to supply [new lots], he told Financial Review.

Further, the average size of a Sydney housing estate had slumped from a long-term average of 275 to just 78 lots in 2021.

Melbourne, the country’s biggest residential land market, saw 21,000 lot sales in 2021. Prices increased 15% as first home buyers and others priced out of established housing headed to outer suburbs.

Elsewhere on the east coast, south-east Queensland developers are benefitting from the undersupply situation in Sydney and influx of Melbourne buyers.

“Average land sales for 2021 were 41 per cent higher than the past seven-year average … and prices went up 16%” Mr Keane said.

South-east Queensland loot sales approached Melbourne levels with 1900 per month in the June quarter, there was still not enough to meet demand with Mr Keane estimating four months of demand left in the market that he expects will drive up prices in the short term.

A Sydney waterfront mansion that has just hit the market could set a countrywide price record as the first home to sell for A$200 million (US$129.77 million).

Located in the affluent suburb of Point Piper, the sprawling home sits on a lot that’s equivalent to “four normal housing blocks” and features 98 meters (321.5 feet) of water frontage along the harbor, according to an announcement on Wednesday from Ken Jacobs, director of Australia Pacific of Forbes Global Properties, who has the listing in association with real estate agent Brad Pillinger.

“The estate is Australia’s most iconic residence and ranks amongst the best in the world, combining both privacy and space, exuding elegance and comfort, while featuring gun-barrel views of the Sydney Opera House and the Harbour Bridge,” Jacobs said in a statement.

The residence is expected to sell for A$200 million or more, Pillinger added. “There is no comparable property in Australia.”

The home, named Wingadal, as it’s located on Wingadal Place, was built for Aussie Home Loans founder John Symond, who purchased the property in 1999. It took eight years to complete the mansion, which was designed by architect Alec Tzannes, according to the listing agency.

“Wingadal is a highlight of my career in residential design and architecture,” Tzannes said. “The timeless design on the Point Piper peninsula offers a unique appreciation of Sydney Harbour from a variety of angles, rotating around an axis that lines up perfectly with the Sydney Harbour Bridge.”

The colossal home has enough internal space to entertain up to 500 people, and underground parking provides space for 20 cars, plus eight more can fit inside the garage.

The four-level home has four bedrooms as well as a two-bedroom apartment. There’s also a 2,500-bottle wine cellar, a home theater that seats 22, two commercial kitchens and a swimming pool.

“Wingadal has been a special home for my family over the past two decades, and now I’m looking forward to spending more time traveling overseas,” Symond said in a statement. “While being an exceptional family home, we have also enjoyed hosting many important events for charities and other worthwhile causes.”

This is not the first time Symond has tried to sell his waterfront estate. In 2016, he listed the home in hopes of selling it for at least A$100 million, which would’ve been a price record for the country at that time Mansion Global reported . The current benchmark was set in 2022, when a baronial-style estate, also in Point Piper, sold for A$130 million, according to The Sydney Morning Herald .

Housing Supply Falling Along The East Coast

Supply-chain issues are affecting house-and-land packages.

The harbourfront estate has views of the Sydney Opera House and can entertain up to 500 guests