Lockdowns prompt fresh group of city dwellers to make a tree change or sea change

City dwellers fed up with rolling lockdowns are making plans to tree change more than a year after the pandemic first sent prices for regional property soaring.

Sydney and Melbourne home owners are cashing in their properties, which have jumped in value since interest rates were slashed, and bidding up homes on the coast or in the country, even sight-unseen.

Although the stretch of COVID-zero in early 2021 prompted remote workers to return to their offices a few days a week and the appeal of regional living waned, the latest east coast lockdowns have sparked a fresh desire for more space.

This has left tree-change hopefuls hunting for their new digs in regional markets where prices have already surged thanks to 2020’s relocators.

House prices in the Byron Bay area, for example, have skyrocketed 51 per cent in the 12 months to June 2021, to a median of $1.585 million.

Several regional areas have recorded price growth of more than 30 per cent in a year, including the Surf Coast in Victoria and Kiama south of Sydney. Pockets of the Mornington Peninsula outside Melbourne are up more than 50 per cent, and some suburbs in the NSW Central Coast are up 30 per cent-plus.

In some neighbourhoods, the new arrivals this year are less likely to be first-home buyers drawn to affordable options and are instead cashed-up vendors of city real estate.

In Byron Bay, buyers are willing to make big purchases sight-unseen if they’re not able to travel to view properties, Pacifico Property’s Christian Sergiacomi said or to buy off-the-plan such as at his new Asana development on Marvell Street where two houses sold within days of listing this weekend.

SOLD - $4,400,000

27 Marvell St, Byron Bay NSW 2481

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“Melbourne has obviously been more patient; they’ve been in for longer, they’ve had enough. We’re receiving calls saying, ‘We’re out’,” he said. “‘The first opportunity, we’re out. I can’t do it anymore.’

“Sydney is already doing that; it’s just ramping up over the past week.”

Buyers were looking for second homes, not holiday houses, selling a big place in the city and keeping one residence there and one on the coast.

“Sydney and Melbourne’s markets are doing really well, so they’re selling their house well, they’re trading like for like,” he said.

“The last few prices, I am shaking my head.”

Closer to Sydney, the Central Coast has been fielding pent-up demand from remote workers looking for better value, LJ Hooker Terrigal’s Matthew Farrugia said.

“We used to see a lot of first-home buyers coming up from Sydney,” he said.

“That’s transitioned out – it’s probably Sydneysiders who have sold bigger homes on the northern beaches.

“The value’s definitely changing. It’s better value for money, nonetheless.”

Residents could sustainably do a day or two a week in their Sydney office in future, he said, adding that if the Central Coast comes out of this lockdown before Sydney, it would increase the area’s appeal.

Demand in Noosa has been continuous since last June, said Tom Offermann of his eponymous real estate agency.

Instead of holiday units, buyers are looking for a house or apartment they can spend more time in and work remotely.

“There are a lot of people from Victoria and Sydney, even at the upper echelons of their businesses – company directors and CEOs, CFOs and managers – who are living up here,” he said.

“Most buyers have sold a property or are going to sell a property. The values of their current property have risen strongly as well, so they can afford to pay more for the next property.”

Low interest rates and savings from cancelled overseas holidays have bolstered prices too, and Noosa auctions are often attracting five to 10 bidders, he said.

On Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula, Jellis Craig Sorrento director Emil Foller’s phone has been ringing off the hook for the past couple of weeks.

“People are buying sight unseen, over the phone, just looking at photos from the website,” he said, adding some owners who live in their properties for sale can also do video tours.

Some buyers who have been looking for six months are more likely to buy sight-unseen, but there are also new purchasers coming into the market this lockdown.

Although some buyers are looking to make a permanent move, many want holiday houses, possibly with a view to making it a permanent home later.

“The market, certainly up to $3 million, is very strong,” he said.