Flurry Hits The First-home Buyers' Market
Sun Herald
Sunday October 26, 2008
POTENTIAL Hunter buyers are already taking advantage of the boost to the first-home buyers' grant, judging by agent reports and PRD Nationwide Newcastle's midweek auction, which scored six sales out of seven properties auctioned.
Two of the houses, one at Carrington and another at Edgeworth, sold to first-home buyers. Other starters were among the unsuccessful bidders. PRD Newcastle director Mark Kentwell said a first-home buyer from East Maitland paid $305,000 for a part-renovated three-bedroom cottage on 272 square metres at 139 Hill Street, Carrington. A Holmesville first-timer spent $234,000 on a three-bedroom house with views at 13 Ridley Street, Edgeworth.A trio of more ambitious novice buyers were among the five parties vying for the home of Debbie Ellis, the choreographer of So You Think You Can Dance and her husband, wealth creation coach Matthew Linnert. Their three-bedroom classic 1950s house with north-facing views and a pool on 900 square metres at 151 Russell Road, New Lambton, fetched $455,000, a price well above the $439,000 reserve and out of reach of the three first-home buyers.Mr Kentwell said the results were in contrast to last month when only three out of eight properties sold under the hammer.He put the improvement down to the boost to the first-home buyer grant that was a positive, not only for the lower end of the market, but would also allow people hanging on to properties in the $350,000 price range to move to the next price bracket. Before buyers rush out to take advantage of the doubled first-home buyer grant of $14,000 for existing homes and $21,000 for new (a bonus that took effect from October 14 and lasts until June 30 next year), experts say it is important to think about location, which is more critical than ever in today's economic climate.Opinions on which locations provide the greatest potential for capital gains vary between agents, but all agree that buying close to employment and services is a safer bet than in a far-flung suburb offering bargain housing.Bob Dupont, director of Duponts Valuers and Property Research, has an intimate knowledge of Hunter real estate. "Historically, the closer you are to the sea and to centres the higher the capital gain," he said.To find existing homes under $350,000, Mr Dupont's pick of suburbs that tick both these boxes are Adamstown Heights and Kahibah."They are just close to everything," he said. "The houses were built by Hudson and they tended to build pretty basic but solid family homes. The housing stock is not that trendy and is a little bit modest by today's standards. "As for new homes, there's some good offers going on around Fletcher and Cameron Park where the developers out there have recognised that, in order to appeal to first-home buyers, they need to put the blocks on for $150,000. Outer Maitland has blocks at the same price at Gillieston Heights, Bolwarra and Rutherford but they are not as convenient."Vice-president of the NSW Real Estate Institute, Wayne Stewart, said a first home was usually sold after a few years and provided a springboard to something better, so capital gains were important.Areas close to major infrastructure such as shopping centres, schools, transport hubs and employment made the best profit. In Lake Macquarie, buyers could hunt in affordable suburbs such as Glendale, Argenton, Cardiff and Edgeworth near the expanding Stockland Glendale shopping centre and the former Pasminco smelter site at Boolaroo, which was being redeveloped for housing. In Newcastle, Mayfield and the old industrial suburbs around it provided good buys.Another hub with affordable housing was around East Maitland and Thornton.Medowie, the closest suburb to the redevelopment of Newcastle Airport and earmarked for further development, was another excellent area to buy into. Three-bedroom brick homes were available in the low $200,000s. Mr Stewart, the principal of Century 21 Five Star Properties, said the Medowie office had a brick three-bedroom house at 151 Coachwood Drive for $245,000 and a property at 57 Kindlebark Close for $249,950.Since the first-home buyer grant boost, his office had noticed more inquiries from first-home buyers about the land subdivision The Linkage, in the Maitland suburb of Ashtonfield."In the past six months, we would have been lucky to have two or three first-home buyers," Mr Stewart said. "Last weekend I had six inquiries and five were first-home buyers."Shane Smith, of Century 21 Carkeet Johns Smith at Charlestown, said Charlestown provided an excellent starting point, being close to everything and reasonably affordable. A three-bedroom weatherboard and tile house at 17 Willis Street that went on the market last weekend at $319,950 attracted about six inspections from first-home buyers before yesterday's open house. The house is on 525 square metres and about 800 metres from Charlestown's shopping centre.Wayde Turner, of Elders Maitland, said Rutherford, Metford and East Maitland provided rich pickings for first-home buyers who were beginning to stir the market up. Anthony Di-Nardo, of McGrath Warners Bay, said last week had been the best in two months. Two of his properties had attracted a lot of interest: 30 Linden Avenue, Eleebana had offers of more than $425,000; and 180 Lawson Street, Hamilton, a cottage in original condition on a small block, had four parties competing with offers of more than $330,000. A first-home buyer was the front-runner.
© 2008 Sun Herald