House Prices Under Labor

Economists are predicting the national property market will continue to soften despite Labor Government initiatives aimed at stimulation and a targeted ease of entry.

Labor’s recently announced ‘Help to Buy’ scheme – a new program targeting first home buyers, single parents and low-income earners in a bid to get them into the market sooner – was a key announcement from the incoming Albanese government and aligned to a confirmed continuation of the Coalition’s ‘Home Guarantee Scheme.’

“With affordability worsening due to the first interest rate rise in 11 years, the government incentives and offsets will aid housing in the short term,” says Dr Wilson, chief economist at My Housing Market.

“Of course, interest rates will play a large role in how the market behaves, and while they are certainly on the way up, how far up they go is still up in the air.”

Others point to future pain – with predictions of substantial drops in property prices.

AMP claims Australians should expect a 10% – 15% drop in house prices across the next 18 months.

By comparison, Westpac remains firm with an earlier forecast of a national price fall of 2% by the end of 2022 and a further 8% in 2023. The CBA, meanwhile, predicts national prices to flatline by the end of the year, also with an 8% drop in 2023.

Dr Wilson remains sceptical of such dramatic reductions.

“The historical data doesn’t suggest that rising interest rates impact the market at that level,” he says. “There’s no doubt that over the past six months there’s been flat, or negative price growth. But the housing market is still undersupplied and with building costs rising and a lack of building in the pipeline, along with migration set to return at full capacity soon, there will still be more people than houses.

“One only has to look at the rental market, especially in major cities like Sydney and Melbourne to see that there is still a high demand for housing.”

Not discounting the effect of interest rates on the economy, Dr Wilson explains states the key to the national housing market lies with long-term inflation and wage-growth.

“For the new government, and the RBA, the problem lies in wages, and making sure that it keeps pace with inflation. With inflation going up, housing becomes less affordable, and that will have a greater impact on prices than interest rates.

“But at the end of the day, prices will stay fairly flat, if not a little bit under the line, and will be for some time.”

A perfectly-positioned harbourside residence, formerly the home of a late Melbourne Cup-winning horse owner, has come to market with $14 million price expectations for its February 22 auction.

Sitting in one of Sydney’s most coveted enclaves on Waiwera St in Lavender Bay, the duplex with never-to-be-built-out gunbarrell views of both the Sydney Harbour Bridge and Opera House was home to championship thoroughbred owner Michael Fergus Doyle. The Irish-born entrepreneur was part owner of Protectionist, the 2014 Melbourne Cup winner.

Bought by Doyle in April 2020, in an off-market deal totalling $11 million according to CoreLogic data, the two-storey Lavender Bay property is being sold by the racing legend’s family through Atlas Sydney & East Coast. Doyle, a prominent character in Sydney’s Irish community for more than 50 years after arriving down under in the 1960s with a 10 pound boat ticket, sadly passed away in November 2023 at the age of 77.

Doyle built his fortune by building a construction company from the ground up that eventually employed more than 300 people and had a contract with Sydney Water worth A$100 million a year. By 2009, Doyle sold the business to a company owned by the Singapore Government and breeding horses through Doyles Breeding & Racing became his next passion.

The contemporary four-bedroom three-bathroom property features 304sq m of internal living space with additional outdoor entertaining areas on both levels.

Beyond the impressive grand entrance foyer with a personalised floor medallion, the layout opens up to reveal a large everyday living level with a formal lounge room and casual sitting space featuring walls of windows to frame the Harbour City’s top icons. Thanks to a central skylight tower, this main living zone is also flooded with natural light.

A spacious chef-grade kitchen anchored by a long island bench is equipped with Gaggenau appliances, gas burners, dual ovens, and a grill plate. The adjoining dining area spills out onto a terrace with an integrated bar table plus a Luna Park and bridge backdrop. The entry level also houses a home office or guest bedroom with a Juliette balcony and integrated desks opposite a full bathroom.

In the main bedroom suite upstairs there is a deep full-width balcony with more landmark views, a vast walk-in wardrobe, plus a spa ensuite complete with twin vanities, heated floors and warming towel racks. Two more bedrooms on the upper level each have access via French doors to a shared street-facing terrace and built-ins with a common family-friendly bathroom.

Added extras include automatic awnings and privacy screens to the outdoor areas, marble floor tiles, and a double lock up garage with storage.

The designer duplex is located close to harbourside dining venues, foreshore parks such as Bob Gordon Reserve and Wendy Whiteley’s Secret Gardens, Kirribilli Markets and North Sydney’s bustling CBD.

Property 2 at 9-11 Waiwera St is on the market with Adrian Bridges and Daniel Chester of Atlas Sydney & East Coast with a price guide of $14 million. It is set to go under the hammer on February 22.

House Prices Under Labor

Predicted market falls are coming – though some experts claim things have been over-egged.

His stallion once won the Melbourne Cup, now this late legendary horse owner’s thoroughbred harbourside home is on the market.