The month in review: Regional Vic
By Herron Todd White
September, 2009
Headline to local newspaper: “Mildura real estate agents
suffer burnout in July”. July is a month that is traditionally
slow, dull and boring in the local market, but not this year.
164 sales this last month compared to 91 in July 2008.
What has caused this you may ask. One simple answer– first home buyers. Boy, are the house/land package
builders in Mildura going to be busy for the next 9
months. Signatures are going on contracts on a daily basis
before the First Home Owners Grants are likely reduced
at the end of September. Activity is centred on the three
bedroom, two bathroom compact 150m² brick veneer
houses in the $240,000 to $270,000 price range.
One house/land package builder presently has 25 houses
under construction and commitments for a further 25
houses to commence in the next 6 months. Builders
however that cater for the mid to high end of the market
have been quiet and this is likely to continue in the short
term at least.
Residential sales in the Mildura area softened earlier than
capital cities and commenced a downturn in mid 2007
following major water restrictions due to the drought and
Murray River water crisis. The downturn in both volume of
sales and values continued in 2008, and whilst values in
2009 have remained soft, average monthly sales activity
has increased by over 20% this year.
Nearly all sales are in the under $300,000 price bracket
with only 11% of sales this year above $300,000.
The top end of the market has been very quiet and a
number of Murray Riverfront properties in the over
$1 million price bracket are on the market with limited
interest.
The future residential outlook of the region will be
dependent on the water crisis, population growth
and employment opportunities. The construction of
the proposed solar power farms (over $1 billion in
construction costs) over the next 2 years will benefit the
market should they eventuate.
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