The month in review: Newcastle
By Herron Todd White
April, 2010
The ‘weekender’ is generally the house or unit used by
non-resident owners and their families for weekend
getaways or regular holidays in localities that are
generally between one to three hours’ drive away from
their permanent place of residence. Mostly in the wider
Newcastle area these places are located about the coast
with the Nelson Bay/Port Stephens area being very
popular for Sydney people.
The market for ’weekenders, as with any second home, can
be more volatile as both supply and demand for houses
and units in this particular market segment fluctuates
substantially. Generally in good economic times (low
unemployment coupled with strong wages growth,
bullish equity markets, etc) there is lower supply and
stronger demand (as with any discretionary spending)
and on the flip side weaker economic times (uncertain
employment prospects, volatile equity markets, etc) lead
to increased supply and weaker demand. As such given
the particularly weak equity markets that we experienced
in 2008/09 we saw the ‘weekender’ dominated markets
such as the Port Stephens area weaken with houses
generally losing anywhere from 10% to 20% in value and
units (particularly modern units) losing 20% to 30% in
value.
The ‘weekender’ market is a very wide market ranging
from basic two bedroom cottages through to large,
modern, four bedroom plus three bathroom houses. These
houses can be located right on the water, within walking
distance of beaches, bay or ocean. Prices generally range
from $200,000 for a basic two bedroom, strata unit within walking distance of the beach and bay, through to $1
million-plus for the larger waterfront houses with varying
water views.
Whilst the market certainly weakened throughout
2008/09 it does appear to have bottomed out now and
we are seeing an increased number of purchasers actively
seeking out property (both houses and units) at these
reduced sale prices.
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