Southern Highlands and Shoalhaven houses are expected to see the second-highest decline in value among NSW regional areas in 2019, according to a recent forecast by Moody’s Analytics.
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Moody’s, which used CoreLogic data for its forecast, said property values are expected to drop 3.6 per cent in 2019 and another 0.3 per cent in 2020.
The Illawarra property market will take the highest hit with a 5.2 per cent decline in 2019, but it will make a recovery with 1.6 per cent growth in 2020.
Illawarra and the Southern Highlands and Shoalhaven property markets saw the highest growth among NSW regional areas in 2017.
Property values grew around 14 per cent in both regions in 2017 and then dropped around two per cent in 2018.
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South Coast real estate agents, however, are upbeat about the market’s prospect in the near future.
Paul Griffin, a principal at LJ Hooker Real Estate Agents’ Bega office, said the Bega market is going strong because of the number of employment opportunities and infrastructure growth in the area.
“We are really struggling for listings in the South Coast,” Mr Griffin said.
“I have not seen prices drop in our market. In fact, prices have jumped at a couple of places in the last three to four weeks.
“The limited supply has forced prices up and that limited supply is not going to change.”
Mr Griffin said the median price for a three-bedroom house in Bega is between $350,000 and $400,000 and for a block of land of 700 square metres is around $130,000.
“I am not expecting prices to drop in the near future,” he said.
“I have not seen such a strong market in the past 15 years.”
Mr Griffin said prices fluctuate more in coastal towns.
Eve O'Brien, a real estate agent in the coastal town of Merimbula, said the property market has slowed down a bit in the past few months.
“The days on the market has blown out and it is taking longer to sell,” Ms O’Brien said.
“For example, a unit for $350,000 is selling within 60 to 80 days compared with 30 to 45 days a year ago.
“Properties with higher values are taking up to 120 days to sell.”
Ms O’Brien said property values have plateaued in Merimbula and a decline of three per cent doesn’t make much difference as properties are already low-priced.
She said investors are a little bit cautious about coming to areas with a small population.
“Merimbula has a population of 3700 people and is mostly visited by tourists,” she said.