What does the Bendigo property market look like in 2022?

The property market across in Bendigo is expected to continue to grow in 2022 according to two local real estate experts, but not to the extent of the last two years.

The pair said while they believe while there is growth potential in the region, the market will stabilise this year.

Managing director of Ray White Bendigo, Rory Somerville, said buyer demand has slowed.

“We’re obviously coming off a back of a COVID boom in property sales and prices, so far the first six weeks of the year we’re not seeing anything slowing down as such as price growth,” he said.

“We are seeing a little bit slower buyer demand though, and people are taking a little bit longer to make decisions.

“In 2020 and 2021, people would inspect a property on a Saturday and they would be making a decision that afternoon.

“Now, people are inspecting a property on Saturday, and they might have child’s sport or a dinner party at night. 18 months ago, they were inspecting a property by Zoom or one-on-one inspections and that was it, they were able to process decisions quicker.”

Sales manager at Stockdale and Leggo Bendigo, Grant Hosking said the buyer pool is not as big as it was over the last 24 months.

“Twelve months ago we were inundated with buyers but we’re not getting the same amount of inquiries going through,” he said.

He said he doesn’t expect prices to drop, but the market will stabilise.

Mr Somerville said buyers in Bendigo are looking for inner-city living, and suburbs like Quarry Hill, North Bendigo and Flora Hill are getting the best growth.

“The buyer pool that’s coming from out of Bendigo is looking for liveability, they’re looking for being able to walk to town, something close to a train station,” he said.

“People are wanting to be a 10-to-15-minute walk to the CBD. There’s still some growth out in Epsom, Huntly, but the closer to the CBD is getting the best growth.

“We’re seeing more and more $1.5 million to $2 million properties surrounding the CBD.”

When it comes to value for money, Mr Hosking said suburbs such as Eaglehawk, Golden Square and Kangaroo Flat were a target for buyers.

“Over the last 12 months, Eaglehawk has gone up nearly 22 per cent,” he said. “It’s unheard of and it’s got to stabilise.”

While the outer suburbs of Bendigo, such as Huntly and Epsom, are still a couple years of reaching their potential, there is currently a land shortage due to developers capitalising on future demand.

“During the big boom, due to the grants, a lot of the land was snapped up it takes time to then have developers get planning approval and develop more land,” Mr Somerville said.

“There’s a bit of a shortage of land at the moment and purchasers that would normally look to buy a block of land and build the Metricon or Simonds Homes, they’re now going into the existing two-to-three-year-old house in Jackass Flat, Epsom or Huntly.

“Someone that wants to be closer to the CBD, you’re not getting a brand-new built home, or a four-bedroom, two-bathroom modern home, you’re going to get something that’s been renovated.”

Mr Somerville also said the talk of interest rates rising has buyers worried.

“It’s hard to know when that impact or thinking is going to flow through into potentially property pricing drop,” he said.

Mr Hosking had a stark warning, saying it’s not a matter of if interest rates increased, but when.