Premium Suburbs Feel Price Pinch
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Premium Suburbs Feel Price Pinch

Affordability constraints, credit crunches and a flood of listings are affecting growth.

By Terry Christodoulou
Wed, Nov 10, 2021 11:51amGrey Clock 2 min

House prices have fallen across 7% of suburbs in the past three months.

This dip is a contrast to the March peak when just 1.4% posted a decline and according to analysts is the work of a surge in new listings, affordability constraints and tightening credit conditions.

Data from CoreLogic indicates mining towns and some regional markets that experienced the strong upswing earlier in the year have also posted the largest drops.

The volatility in these markets has seen prices slump by 10.3% in South Hedland in WA’s East Pilbara region during the past three months.

House prices fell by 4.7% in Millars Well and Pegs Creek in West Pilbara while units were weakest in West End in Townsville where values fell by 6.6%, East Fremantle in Perth a 4.2%.

However, it’s not an issue isolated to the regions with some of the country’s more premium suburbs feeling the punch.

The high end of the housing market – where dwelling values were about $1 million or more.

Since peaking at 3.5% monthly growth in March, the top 25% of the market by value has slowed to 1.5% through October.

By comparison, the middle market has slowed from 2.2% to 1.7% and the lowest segment 1.5% to 1.3% during the same period.

During the three months ending October house prices in the tony suburbs of Melbourne, including Armadale, Mont Albert and Blackburn posted declines of 0.5%, 0.4% and 0.1% respectively.

In Sydney, Waverley, in the city’s coveted eastern suburbs was the weakest premium market with house prices gaining just 0.7% over three months.

According to Eliza Owen, CoreLogic’s head of research, the slowdown is due to affordability constraints and a glut of listings.

“The volatility at the high end of the market, demonstrated by the rapid decline in growth rates, suggests this segment can also expect a larger downturn in property values.”

“The housing market is well and truly past its peak for the current cycle, and it makes sense that as more headwinds accumulate, price increases will continue to slow, and more suburbs may see an adjustment in price,” she said.

“This comes back to borrowing constraints associated with the increased loan serviceability buffer from APRA, as well as banks proactively tightening lending conditions,” Ms Owen added.



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You don’t need to be a golfer to enjoy the benefits of living adjacent to a golf course in Australia

By Sara Mulcahy
Wed, Oct 30, 2024 3 min

From the Spring 2024 issue of Kanebridge Quarterly. Order your copy here.

W hile water views are usually considered most desirable for property buyers, golf course vistas are snapping at their proverbial heels. This past quarter century has witnessed a golden age in Australian golf course living, with dozens — if not hundreds— of residential courses built around our major cities and tourist towns. These days, there’s a buoyant market for established large golf homes alongside off-the-plan apartments being retro built to take advantage of existing golf course views. So what’s the appeal?

Green dreams

Barbara Wolveridge is a director at Sotheby’s International Realty. She has worked with many of Australia’s most prestigious golf course developments including The National in Cape Schanck Vic, Moonah Links on the Mornington Peninsula, Macquarie Links International Golf Club in Sydney’s West and the Mirage Country Club in Port Douglas where she currently lives. (She was also married to the late renowned golf course designer and former US Tour player Michael Wolveridge.)

“People like to live on golf courses,” she says. “You can walk out of your house onto a beautiful course. But what you’re really buying is the extended view. You have acres and acres in front of you, but you’re paying for a small block of land.”

And while you can’t run across the greens in your bare feet, as soon as the golf is finished for the day, there are tracks and cart paths where you can walk and bike, enjoying the natural surrounds of lush greenery and wildlife.

“Some courses are a haven for wallabies and kangaroos,” says Wolveridge. “Here in Port Douglas the pristine ponds attract the magpie geese. There are the most beautiful birds everywhere — and the odd croc as well.”

Who’s buying?

While you might expect golfing real estate to be the exclusive domain of well-heeled golf-mad retirees, that’s only a part of the story. Golfing homes appeal to a broad section of the community, especially in the post-COVID era, when home often also serves as an office.

“Probably 50 to 60 percent of my buyers are golfers,” says Wolveridge. “But in some areas people skew younger, in their 40s — not necessarily golfers, but those who want that lovely view.  A lot of people like to come up here for the winter and when they’re not here, they rent out their properties.

“My very wealthy clients don’t do that, but the middle bracket come and use it when they like, and then it goes into the letting pool for the rest of the year.”

A cautionary tale

For most golf course adjacent dwellers, the only potential negative is the odd Titleist Pro V1 ball shattering the serenity as it sails through the bedroom window. But that’s not the worst thing that can happen.

Built in 1990 on the edge of the Great Dividing Range, Paradise Palms in Cairns lived up to its name with pristine rainforest providing a backdrop to rolling fairways and man-made lakes. Home to professional events including the Skins Game and Ladies’ Masters, it climbed to number nine ranking in Golf Magazine’s list of the nation’s Best Public Access Courses.

In 2016, the signature 7th hole was sacrificed to make way for an access road into a residential development of 585 luxury units. Then, horror. The course declined under new owners, was sold again, and a multimillion-dollar redevelopment plan was revealed that would close the 18-hole course and transform it into a new housing estate.

Those who dreamed of seeing out their days overlooking manicured greens are now facing the prospect of a sea of roofs.

“Once a development is established, it has to make money,” says Wolveridge. “The developer has to put in somebody who knows how to run a golf course — and that is the hard part.

“If the developer isn’t making any money, it won’t necessarily devalue the properties, but if the course does so badly it goes broke, that is the danger.”

Happily, cases like Paradise Palms are few and far between.

“I can think of so many golf course developments in Australia that are very successful, and probably only three or four that aren’t,” says Wolveridge.

As always with property, to avoid a triple bogey, it’s a case of buyer beware.

How green is your view?

A commonly held belief is that golf courses use vast amounts of water, chemical pesticides and fertilisers to keep those greens pristine. In reality, golf course management in Australia claims to be at the forefront of environmental sustainability, pioneering the use of grey water and efficient irrigation techniques as well as new drought- and disease-resistant grasses.

Following the release of the landmark GC2030 report by The Royal and Ancient Golf Club (R&A) in Scotland in 2018, Australia has joined a dozen or so other countries globally answering the call to action on topics such as climate change, resources, water conservation, pesticides, labour and land.

While golf courses have historically relied on a cocktail of pesticides and herbicides, many are today transitioning to organic maintenance practices, using natural means to control pests and promote healthy turf.

KDV Sport golf course (12 holes) on the Gold Coast and Kabi Organic Golf Club (27 holes) at Boreen Point in the Sunshine Coast hinterland are Australia’s only two organic golf courses to date. But there is no accommodation — yet — at either.

MOST POPULAR
11 ACRES ROAD, KELLYVILLE, NSW

This stylish family home combines a classic palette and finishes with a flexible floorplan

35 North Street Windsor

Just 55 minutes from Sydney, make this your creative getaway located in the majestic Hawkesbury region.

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