With a global pandemic and reports of economic crashes, if you believe what’s in the media, you’d never buy a property; it’s all doom and gloom.

But if you dig a little deeper look beyond the capital figures, you’ll find regional Australia is painting a very different picture. CoreLogic says regional prices have been more stable during the COVID-19 pandemic than capital city markets, and we agree.

We’ve been in the business for over 40 years, so we know exactly what’s happening at a local level; the good news is, more often than not, Newcastle holds its own and doesn’t reflect what’s happening in the major cities.

Even in these uncertain economic times we’re finding the Newcastle region is humming along quite nicely.

Looking at our year on year sales figures for May to August 2020, we’ve found our figures have been stronger this year than in the same months last year.

Home buyers

With record low interest rates and plenty of government incentives to encourage home buyers we’re finding the vast majority of the buyers have been first and subsequent home buyers.

We suspect this will continue, particularly as the Reserve Bank of Australia has announced in its latest Board meeting it has decided to keep the cash rate unchanged at 0.25 %.

Investors

Being honest, it has been fairly quiet for investors recently, and we’re guessing this is partly because there are currently no Government incentives for them. However, what we have seen though is a quiet rise in rental prices over recent months, and also most areas are experiencing lower vacancy rates.

Is now a good time to sell?

With its beaches and the Hunter Valley, our region is a desirable place to live and there are plenty of work opportunities in many different industries. Furthermore, we are just a two-hour drive from Sydney, but our property is far more affordable than Sydney, where median house prices have risen by over 10 % during the past year to over $620,000.

Combine this with Newcastle being a university town, so plenty of education opportunities too, and it’s hardly surprising we have been seeing a significant interest from buyers.

But with so many conflicting reports and predicted economic uncertainty, what we are finding is, there is actually a low amount of homes currently on the market.

We haven’t got the crystal ball, but looking at our trends and the way the market is behaving, we believe if you’re considering selling, take advantage of this current strong buyer interest – now is an excellent time to sell.

If you have any queries about selling your house at this time, or would like a free, no obligation quote, give us a call on 02 4954 8833. Or send us an email to: mail@apnewcastle.com.au – we’d love to hear from you.

And don’t forget to check out our Facebook page for handy tips on selling your property or what to look for when buying a property