'Renovation mania': The two property types where buyer searches have exploded by 180 per cent
Australia is still in the grip of renovation mania, from those buying property expressly to undertake a complete overhaul to those who only want to purchase homes that have already had a total revamp.
The two ends of the same spectrum are figuring strongly in the real estate markets of many of our cities and regional areas.
The latest Domain research has found that the number of searches performed on the platform looking for the word “fix” was 45 per cent higher in 2020 than in 2019, and a huge 220 per cent higher in 2021, when everyone was looking to renovate during the pandemic.
It rose again in 2022 by a more modest 30 per cent, but then exploded again this year with a 180 per cent rise.
At the same time, searches using the word “renovated” by those seeking properties that had already been updated rose by 90 per cent in 2020, 111 per cent in 2021, 88 per cent in 2022 and 77 per cent this year.
“There’s definitely been feedback, too, from agents that totally renovated, turnkey homes are moving really quickly,” said Domain chief of research and economics Dr Nicola Powell.
“Buyers are really keen on them because they’re worried about the costs of having to do a renovation themselves and the possibility of project delays.
“But on the flip side, there are a lot of people looking to renovate properties, especially in desirable areas where they can see it’s an opportunity to get in at an affordable level. With property still so expensive, they’re hoping to grab themselves a bargain by buying the worst house in the best street.”
In many sea-change destinations, it’s particularly true that newcomers are looking for homes where all the work has already been done.
In Port Macquarie, on the mid-North Coast of NSW, 390 kilometres north of Sydney, McGrath Port Macquarie agent Corinne Cunningham has seen that time and time again.
“We have a lot of people coming here from Sydney and Melbourne and Brisbane, and they’re all looking for a house that’s been completely renovated with nothing left to do,” she said.
“They tend to be cashed-up buyers, and sometimes retirees, and prices here are much more affordable than where they’ve come from. They come here for a more relaxed lifestyle, so they certainly don’t want to come and start working on a house.”
There is also an appetite from others to do the work to increase the value of their own homes, or to flip them at a profit.
Trudi Selleck is a relatively recent newcomer to Port Macquarie, having moved there four years ago from Melbourne. When she and her husband’s motorbike travel tour business went on a forced hiatus during COVID-19, she had the idea of renovating their newly bought house.
It went so well, they sold it for a profit and she immediately bought another unrenovated house to transform, sold that, and is now working on her third, completely gutting it, reconfiguring the floor plan, putting in a new kitchen and bathrooms, painting it inside and out and redoing the landscaping around the house.
“It’s a four-bedroom, two-bathroom house near the beach and close to the golf course,” said Selleck, 49, who set up her own company, Lighthouse Designs, to renovate the houses at 10 Northridge Drive, 21 Sapphire Drive and 45 Emerald Drive.
“I thought at first that young families would want to buy a fully renovated home, but the buyers have all been retirees.
“I think they don’t want the bother of renovating themselves and I have the advantage now of having my own team of tradies … at first, I had to wait four months for the tiler, now that’s much quicker.”
Belinda Botzolis, a valuer, property strategist and founder of renovations company Add Valuer, says it’s easy to understand why both those who are buying to renovate and those who only want to buy renovated properties are so active in the market today.
As there’s such a limited supply of stock for sale at the moment, buyers are often happy to buy a good-looking property that has already had everything done to it.
“They flick through domain.com.au and look at all the prettiest pictures, and start getting FOMO [the fear of missing out] all over again,” she said.
“There’s a lot of people around with money at the moment, and they’re prepared to compete, and pay a higher price, for the best. They don’t want to miss out.”
Meanwhile, those without so much money are looking for cheaper properties that needs work.
Botzolis warns them, however, to make sure they know what they’re doing.
The difference in cost between a minor renovation “with a bit of lipstick, eyeliner and mascara” and a major “full facial reconstruction” can be huge, she says.
“I hear from a lot of people who say they didn’t realise they needed a proper builder, a structural engineer, five different certificates … they have to make sure they’re prepared!”
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