Great Ocean Report – End of financial year roundup

WITH MARTY MAHER FROM GREAT OCEAN PROPERTIES

The 2020/21 financial year was an incredible year for real estate activity on the Great Ocean Road, both in terms of the volume of transactions and price increases across the entire coast.

Much of this was initiated by a psychological response to COVID lockdowns and buyers seeking lifestyle and then progressed to a FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) market as prices started to increase.So, let’s look at the performance of each of the towns during this period. As a reference, these sales are house sales, that is, a free-standing dwelling on its own title. We do not include land sales or units although freestanding dwellings with common driveways are included. The median house price is calculated as the “middle” price when all the sales are ranked from lowest to highest.

Torquay again continues to have significant turnover with 382 house sales for the year, which was well up from 266 in the 19/20 financial year. The median house price has been calculated at $980,000, up slightly from $850,000 in 19/20. There were 174 sales between $1m-$2m up dramatically from 70 the year before, 11 above $2m, 2 above $3m and 1 above $4m which was the top sale for the year at $4,140,000. For context, there are approximately 9,500 rateable properties in Torquay.

Jan Juc recorded 71 house sales, considerably up from 49 in 2019/20, with the median house price coming in at $1,251,000 which was well up from $920,000 in the previous financial year. The top sale for Jan Juc was $3,750,000. There were 41 sales between $1m – $2m (up from 17 in 19/21), 4 above $2m and 4 above $3m. There are 2,019 rateable properties in Jan Juc.

Anglesea was very active and saw 100 house sales recorded for the financial year, well up from the 84 recorded in 2019/20. The median house price was $1,250,000, dramatically up from $861,000 the year before. The top sale for the year was sold by Great Ocean Properties and is undisclosed however, it sold above its $5.5m advertised price. This was well above the $2,300,000 top sale the previous year. There were 58 sales above $1m, a significant increase from 34 the year before, 9 above $2m, 2 above $3m and 5 above $4m. Again, for context, there are 3,313 rateable properties in Anglesea.

Aireys Inlet recorded 33 house sales for the 2020/21 financial year which was an increase from 24 in the 2019/20 financial year. The median house price again saw a significant jump to come in at $1,360,000 up from $1,120,000 the previous year. The top sale was $3,420,000. There were 22 sales recorded between $1m – $2m up from 15 the previous year, 4 sales above $2m and 2 above $3m. Aireys Inlet has 1,208 rateable properties.

Due to the low numbers of sales, we have always grouped Fairhaven, Moggs Creek and Eastern View together. There are only 863 rateable properties in this area. There were 24 sales for the financial year, which was well up from 14 the year before. The median house price came in at $1,700,000, which was a considerable increase from $1,335,500 the year before. The median price figure in this area has historically moved around significantly due to the low sample numbers. The top sale for the year was $3,400,000. There were 13 sales between $1m-$2m, 7 above $2m and 4 above $3m.

Lorne saw the total number of house sales at 54, up from the previous year’s 39. The median house price rose slightly because of this and came in at $1,547,500 which was up from $1,525,000 the year before. The top sale for the year however was $4,850,000. There were 30 sales between $1m – $2m, 10 sales between $2m-$3m, 3 above $3m and 2 above $4m. There are 2,375 rateable properties in Lorne.

Apollo Bay recorded 120 house sales for the year, up from 86 the year before with the median house price coming in at $820,000, which was a substantial increase on $655,000 the previous year. The top sale for the year was $3.4m, with 19 sales above $1m and just the 1 above $3m. The relatively affordable price point continues to be an attraction and the town attracts buyers from a wide variety of sources including regional areas.

As mentioned briefly in the introduction, the market over the past financial year started as a psychological response to COVID lockdowns with buyers looking to change their lives. With time to consider their position, many buyers bought their plans forward and turned something they thought they would do at some point in the future into acting immediately. This only accelerated as prices were seen to visibly rise. As we are social animals with a follow-the-herd instinct, this soon developed into a full blown FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) market and each time we were locked down this increased buyers’ resolve further.

Lack of properties for sale are the only restraint on market activity. For those owners who are considering selling, this Winter/Spring period, subject to COVID access restrictions, could be an especially opportune time to sell. History tells us that the market will temper at some point and we are currently taking a “make hay while the sun shines” approach when advising our clients.

We hope you found this Great Ocean Report informative and if we can ever be of any assistance in any real estate matter please do not hesitate to call.