BUBBLE BURSTS ON AUSTRALIAN REGIONAL PROPERTY PRICES
Interest rate increases and the impact of floods on regional centres have taken a toll on once sought-after areas
2 min
As floodwaters inundate regional towns across NSW, Queensland and Victoria, regional real estate markets have recorded the fastest decline in values in the past quarter, CoreLogic reports.
The Regional Market Update, from the property data provider oversees activity in Australia’s 25 largest non capital city regions and has revealed that the COVID-induced boom in property values has ended, with six of the most popular regions recording falls in house values of at least -6 percent. This includes the Richmond-Tweed area at -11.7 percent, the Southern Highlands and Shoalhaven, -7.1 percent, the Sunshine Coast -7.1 percent, the Gold Coast -6.4 percent, Illawarra -6.1 percent and Newcastle and Lake Macquarie -6.0 percent.
CoreLogic Economist Kaytlin Ezzy said the drop in values was not unexpected.
“It is unsurprising the Richmond-Tweed region recorded the strongest decline in house values,” she said. “Throughout the COVID period, values skyrocketed, rising more than 50 percent and taking the median house value to more than $1.1 million.
“However the impact of this year’s floods, coupled with seven consecutive rate rises, has seen house values fall in the region by nearly -16 percent since April.”
Housing markets also took a hit, with regional NSW recording the worst results. The Southern Highlands and Shoalhaven saw a -27.5 percent downturn in sales volumes while properties in New England and the North West region averaged the longest time on the market at 43 days.
“Sales activity has continued to soften over the quarter, with only a few regions, predominantly in northern Queensland, recording an increase in annual sales volumes,” Ms Ezzy said.
“While down compared to the previous year, it’s important to remember that last year was one of the busiest sales periods on record, and the majority (76 percent) of regional markets analysed are still recording higher annual sales volumes compared to their previous five-year averages.”
Chris Dixon, a partner who led the charge, says he has a ‘very long-term horizon’
Americans now think they need at least $1.25 million for retirement, a 20% increase from a year ago, according to a survey by Northwestern Mutual
< 1 min
A water lily painting by Claude Monet of his Giverny gardens is expected to achieve at least US$65 million at Christie’s November sale of 20th-century art in New York
Le bassin aux nymphéas, or water lily pond, painted around 1917 to 1919, is a monumental canvas extending more than six-and-a-half feet wide and more than three-feet tall, that has been in the same anonymous private collection since 1972. According to Christie’s, the painting has never been seen publicly.
The artwork is “that rarest thing: a masterpiece rediscovered,” Max Carter, Christie’s vice chairman of 20th and 21st century art said in a news release Thursday.
A first look at this thickly painted example of Monet’s famed and influential water lily series will be on Oct. 4, when it is revealed in Hong Kong.
The price record for a Nymphéas painting by Monet was set in May 2018 for Nymphéas en fleur, another large-scale work that had been in the collection of Peggy and David Rockefeller. That painting sold for nearly US$85 million.
The current work for sale is guaranteed, Christie’s confirmed. The auction house did not provide further details on the seller.
Chris Dixon, a partner who led the charge, says he has a ‘very long-term horizon’
Americans now think they need at least $1.25 million for retirement, a 20% increase from a year ago, according to a survey by Northwestern Mutual
